
lass 



3Lz (?z 



Book _J 



^_ 



I'KI'M'N'll.ll m 



RELIGIOUS LECTURES 



ON 



PECULIAR PHENOMENA 

IN THE 

FOUR SEASONS: 

I. THE RESURRECTIONS OF SPRING: 
II. THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OP SUMMER : 

III. THE EUTHANASIA OP AUTUMN: 

IV. THE CORONATION OP WINTER: 

DELIVERED TO THE STUDENTS IN AMHERST COLLEGE, 

in 1845, 1847, 1848 and 1849. 
By EDWAKD HITCHCOCK, D. D., LL. D,, 

PRESIDENT OF THE COLLEGE, AND PROFESSOR OF NATURAL 
THEOLOGY AND GEOLOGY. 



AMHERST: 
J. S. & C. ADAMS. 

1850. 



-&VS- 






.S 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 

1849, by J. S. & C. Adams, in the 
Clerk's Office in the District Court of Massachusetts. 

Gift 
Bertram Smith 
Mar 15, 1934 



<n 



TO THE HON. SAMUEL WILLISTON ; 

THE MUNIFICENT FRIEND AND PATRON OF RELIGION AND LEARNING \ 

THE FOUNDER OF WILLISTON SEMINARY ; 

AND THE LIBERAL BENEFACTOR OF AMHERST COLLEGE : 

THIS LITTLE WOKE, 

THE FIRST FRUITS OF A PROFESSORSHIP OF NATURAL THEOLOGY 
AND GEOLOGY, ENDOWED BY HIM, AND FILLED BY THE AUTHOR J 

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED ; 

AS A TOKEN OF GRATITUDE AND PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP. 



PREFATORY. 



The Lecture entitled " The Coronation of Winter," in this little 
volume, has been published in a pamphlet form at the request of the 
students of Amherst College, and the Mount Holyoke Female Sem- 
inary, before whom it was originally delivered. And it was the in- 
terest manifested in that discourse, which led the author to prepare 
others on some rare phenomena of spring, summer, and autumn, 
and which leads him to hope that the whole may not be unaccepta- 
ble to his friends ; though he cannot anticipate a wide circulation. 
To have published four sermons on ordinary subjects, in the expec- 
tation that they would be read, would have been weakness, if not 
folly. Perhaps the present effort is no better : But the author feels 
that Natural Religion has not yet yielded all the fruits that may be 
derived from it, to feed the heart of piety ; especially when those 
fruits are ripened and gathered under the bright sun of revelation. 
It is well known that the phenomena of nature have often been 
made to utter language opposed to revelation, by the ventriloquiz- 
ing processes of scepticism. It is hoped, therefore, that even a 
feeble attempt to let nature speak in unconstrained tones, will be 
received with favor. 

The manner in which I have endeavored to defend the scripture 
doctrine of the resurrection of the body, by an appeal to certain 
principles of chemistry and physiology, which seem to have been 



VI 



PREFATORY. 



overlooked, both by tbe enemies and the friends of this doctrine, 
seems to me quite conclusive. Yet as I have met with it in no 
writer, I ought not to be over confident in its validity. 

The drawings attached are intended to give a more accurate idea 
of some of the phenomena described than mere words can do. They 
are not caricatures, or exaggeration ; but fall below the reality. They 
are a novel appendage to sermons ; but I hope they may aid in 
deepening the religious effect of the sentiments. 

Amherst College, Sept. 1, 1849. 



CONTENTS 



LECTURE I. 

The Resurrections of Spring, - Page 9 

LECTURE II. 
The Triumphal Arch of Summer, - - - 57 

LECTURE III. 
The Euthanasia of Autumn, - - - - 81 

LECTURE IV. 
The Coronation of Winter, - - - 107 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Emblems of the Resurrection, Frontispiece. 

The Triumphal Arch of Summer, 57 

Autumnal Scenery, - - . - - - 81 



THE RESURRECTIONS OF SPRING. 



But some man will say, how are the dead raised up ? and 
with what body do they come % thou fool, that which 
thou sowest is not quickened except it die: and that 
which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that 
shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or 
of some other grain : but god giveth it a body as it 
hath pleased hlm, and to every seed his own body. — 
1 Corinthians xv. 35— 38. . 

The resurrection of the body is eminently a revealed 
doctrine. After its announcement in the bible, philoso- 
phy does indeed point us to interesting examples of trans- 
formation in the natural world, which some have consid- 
ered as evidence of this doctrine ; but they are rather its 
symbols. When satisfied of its truth, on the testimony of 
inspiration, these natural changes afford beautiful illustra- 
tions of a doctrine so delightful to contemplate : But the 
analogies fail in some of tl 3 most important points : and, 
therefore, have little force in argument. 

On the other hand, however, philosophy has ever been 

2 



10 OBJECTIONS TO A RESURRECTION. 

ready to oppose this doctrine with what it regards as insu- 
perable difficulties. The most prominent one is referred to 
in the text. How are the dead raised up, and ivith ivhat 
body do they come ? enquires the votary of science, confi- 
dent that his objection can never be answered. Men de- 
posit the bodies of their friends in the grave ; but do 
they remain there ? The chemist knows full well that 
they suffer entire decomposition, and that the ultimate 
elements are scattered by the winds and the waves, and 
are taken up by other bodies, it may be by those of other 
men ; so that the same particles may enter into the com- 
position of a multitude of human beings. How then can 
the body, which is laid in the grave, be raised ; since not 
even Omnipotence can make the same particles a part of 
two or more bodies at the same time. 

From the time of the Mohammedan philosopher and phy- 
sician, Avicenna, to the recent appearance of the " Anas- 
tasis" of a distinguished American professor, this has been 
the leading objection to man's resurrection : and at first 
view it certainly seems very strong. The subject de- 
serves careful examination by all the light, which the 
bible and philosophy are able to shed upon it. And the 
resurrections of nature around us, at this interesting sea- 
son of the year, seem to turn our contemplations natural- 
ly to man's final deliverance from the power of the grave. 

I shall first enquire, what is the scriptural doctrine of 
the Resurrection. 






THERE WILL BE A RESURRECTION. 11 

Secondly, enquire whether Natural Religion opposes, 
or illustrates and confirms the scripture doctrine. 

And thirdly, enquire what symbolizations of the resur- 
rection are presented in nature at this season of the year. 

1. What then is the scripture doctrine of the Resurrec- 
tion ? 

In the first place, the bible distinctly announces the fact 
that there will be a resurrection of the dead at the end of 
the world. Marvel not at this, says Christ, for the hour is 
coming in which cdl that are in their graves shall come 
forth, they that have done good, unto the resurrection of 
life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of 
damnation. But the fullest and most unequivocal evi- 
dence of a resurrection is the graphic and sublime descrip- 
tion of it in the chapter containing the text. Now, says 
the apostle, if Christ be preached that he rose from the 
dead, how say some among you, that there is no resurrec- 
tion of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the 
dead, then is Christ not risen. But now is Christ risen 
from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. 
And this resurrection is to take place, according to Paul, 
at the coming of Christ. Then cometh the end, says he 
when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even 
the Father. 

But even this clear and decided description does not 
convince all men that any thing will be actually raised 
out of the grave. Some maintain that such Ian- 



12 



THERE WILL BE A RESURRECTION. 



guage is used in accommodation to the notions of the ig- 
norant, who look upon their bodies as their all, and could 

i e no idea of a pare spirit. Others contend, that a spir- 
itual body is eliminated at the period of death, and accom- 
panies the soul in its unknown aerial flight. But such 
opinions can be made consistent with the bible, only on 
the rationalistic principle of exegesis called accommoda- 
tion ; which means, when stated plainly, that we are to 
consult our philosophy as to what the bible should mean, 
rather than the laws of grammatical construction to learn 
what it does mean. If language can teach that the dead 
are to be raised out of their graves, then the bible does 
teach it ; and if we may regard the statement of so sim- 
ple a fact as figurative, or modal, there is no other fact 
stated in the bible which may not be viewed in the same 
light, and thus set aside. 

2. Tlte bible represents the germ of the resurrection body 
as proceeding from the body that is laid in the grave. 

If nothing is derived from the grave, or from the body 
once laid there, for what possible reason does the bible 
constantly speak of a resurrection from the grave ? It 
could serve no purpose but to mislead the reader. Nor 
can any reason be alleged for the use of such langu;r 
There are some subjects treated of in the bible, so entire- 
ly removed from our kn6wl< dge, thai a < lear description 
of them cannot be gr , for instance, Paul's account 

of the third heavens. But surely, it were easy cue 






THE GERM OF THE RESURRECTION BODY. 13 

to say whether any thing laid in the grave is raised from 
it. If not, how can we vindicate the author of the bible 
from teaching ignorant man a falsehood ? 

But the text settles this point, if general considerations 
do not. The apostle selects a specific example from the 
vegetable kingdom, to answer the infidel's objection, with 
what body do they come ? He supposes a kind of wheat 
placed in the earth, where it seems for a time to be dy- 
ing ; and indeed, everything does decay except the mi- 
nute germ which springs forth from, and is nourished by, 
the decaying cotyledon. The ascending plumule, making 
its way to the air, and the descending radicle, spreading in 
the soil, draw in nourishment from these two sources, and 
the expanding stalk becomes independent of the seed ; and 
we see in it no resemblance to the seed. Yet that seed was 
indispensable to its germination. Just so, the apostle 
would have us understand, does the resurrection body 
arise from that which was laid in the grave. To sup- 
pose that no such relation exists between them, and that 
nothing in fact is derived from the grave, is to do away 
entirely with the force of this beautiful illustration. 

o. The bible represents our present organization as not 
existing in the resurrection body. 

Flesh and blood, says Paul, cannot inherit the kingdom 
of God. They, says Christ, which shall be accounted 
worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the 
dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage : neither 

2* 



14 ORGANIZATION DESTROYED. 

can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels. 
The employments and enjoyments of heaven are also rep- 
resented as wholly spiritual, although sometimes describ- 
ed, from the poverty of human language, by a reference 
to material objects and processes. Christ represented it 
to his disciples as sufficient proof of his being really a 
man, and not a spirit after his resurrection, that he had 
flesh and bones, and could eat and drink. 

Now all such representations clearly show that not any 
thing of our present organization will survive the grave. 
This too is demonstrated by the fact that the resurrection 
body will be incorruptible : an immunity impossible with 
such bodies as we now possess. 

It may be objected here, that the body, in which Christ 
appeared after his resurrection, was similar to that of all 
men. lie repeatedly ate and drank, and declared him- 
self to be composed of flesh and bones, and invited his 
disciples to reach forth their hands and learn by the 
sense of touch, as well as sight, that his was the same 
body that hung on the cross, witli the print of the nails 
still in his hands, and of the spear in his side. We have 
similar evidence in the cases of Lazarus, of Jairus' 
daughter, of Dorcas, of the young man of Nain and of 
Eutychus ; their bodies after their animation had the same 
organization as before their death. 

These statements are undoubtedly correct : But there- 
is abundant reason to believe that the resurrection bodies 



Christ's resurrection body. 15 

both of Christ and of Lazarus were the same as were laid 
in the tomb, reanimated before decomposition. In both 
cases we know that the bodies laid in the grave disappear- 
ed from thence, and were seen by their friends revivified. 
In the case of Christ, although some appear to have 
doubted for a time, yet when they saw the print of the 
nails and of the spear, and heard the voice, they were sat- 
isfied of the reality of the revivification, and exclaimed 
my Lord and my God. And if ecclesiastical history may 
be credited, Lazarus survived this resurrection many 
years. There is every reason, therefore, to believe, that 
neither Christ nor Lazarus assumed spiritual bodies at 
the time of their resurrection, and no one will contend 
that, in the other cases referred to, there was any thing 
more than a revivification of bodies but recently deprived 
of life. That Christ should have received his glorious 
body when he ascended to heaven, is as probable as that 
those who may be alive at his coming shall in like man- 
ner be changed, and the mortal put on immortality. 
Hence then, in our reasonings about the spiritual body, 
we are to leave entirely out of the account the case of 
Christ, of Lazarus, and the others miraculously restored 
to life in the times of Christ and his apostles. For these 
were natural bodies, not spiritual. 

4. The scriptures represent the difference between our 
present bodies and the spiritual or resurrection body to be 
very great. 



16 PRESENT AND FUTURE BOP T ES COMPARED. 

The text makes it certain that this difference may be as 
great as that between a seed and the full grown plant that 
proceeds from it. That winch thou soivest, thou soivest not 
that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of 
wheat, or of some other grain : but God giveth it a body as 
it hath pleased him. Take now a kernel of wheat, and 
with the naked eye what resemblance will you see in it to 
the full grown plant ? True, the vegetable physiologist 
will tell us, that powerful glasses may discover in that 
seed an embryo of the future plant, which only needs de- 
velopment. But to the unaided eye there is scarcely any 
resemblance between the two : And in many other seeds 
that resemblance is still less. 

Now from this illustration we are permitted to infer as 
great a want of resemblance between our present and fu- 
ture bodies, as the seed and the plant it produces exhibit. 
True, had we angelic vision, we might perhaps discern 
the germ of the spiritual body coiled up in our present or- 
ganization. But with our present means of knowledge, 
we can make no such discovery, nor could we probably 
find any external resemblance between the natural and 
spiritual body, had we the means of comparing them to- 
gether. AVe are justified in supposing the greatest possi- 
ble difference j which can exist between matter in its most 
diverse forms. 

Look at the subject in another point of view. Consider 
how few particles of the seed enter into the composition 



THE SPIRITUAL BODY. 17 

of the plant that springs from it. Compare, for instance, 
a forest tree, weighing many tons, with the seed, weighing 
a few grains, from which it sprang ; and then recollect, 
also, that only a small part of the seed finds its way into 
the future plant ; and we may safely say, that the propor- 
tion between the particles derived from the seed and from 
other sources is only as one to a million. Yet the text 
justifies us in the conclusion that equally small may be the 
proportion of the particles derived from our present bodies, 
in the resurection body. If only a millionth part, or a 
ten thousand millionth part, of the matter deposited in 
the grave, shall be raised from thence, it justifies the rep- 
resentations of scripture, that there will be a resurrection 
of the dead. And why may we not suppose, that amid 
all the transmutations which the dead body may undergo, 
some infinitesimal germ may be watched over by omnis- 
cience, and by omnipotence at length be made to con- 
stitute the germ of the spiritual body ? 

5. The scriptures represent the spiritual body as possess- 
ing a specific and individual identity. 

By this I mean, that it will possess characteristics which 
mark it off distinctly from every other created thing: as 
the different species and individuals of animals and plants 
are marked off from one another in the world. This very 
important principle appears to me, in a great degree, to 
have been overlooked by commentators ; and yet it seems 
clearly taught in the text and context. In the passage 



18 POSSESSES IDENTITY. 

already quoted, it is said, that God giveth to the plant that 
springs from the wheat, or other seed sown, a body as it 
hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body ; that is, 
a peculiar body, one marked off from every other. The 
apostle proceeds to illustrate this statement, as if it were 
a point of great importance. All flesh, says he, is not the 
same flesh; but there is one hind of flesh of men, anotlo 
flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. 
He proceeded to state the same fact respecting inorganic 
bodies : There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestri- 
al: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the 
terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and 
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars ; 
for one star differ eth from another star in glory. So also, 
he adds, is the resurrection of the dead. The bible com- 
monly uses language in its popular sense ; but in this pas- 
sage we have a nearer approach to the precise language 
of natural science, in its descriptions of the specific differ- 
ences of different objects. True, Paul describes only 
differences between different tribes of animals ; though in 
describing inorganic bodies, as the sun, moon, and stars, 
lie refers to the characters of species. He shows us that 
each object and species in nature, has certain characters, 
which distinguish it from every other object and species, 
, And when he adds, so also is the resurrection of the dead, 
he teaches thai there will be a peculiarity of character 
that will discriminate between the resurrection body and 



IDENTITY OF THE SPIRITUAL BODY. 19 

every thing else. Nay, it appears to ixie that we may go 
farther, and say, that he teaches, by implication at least, 
that even individual peculiarities will exist in a future 
world. For that same great law of fixed diversity, on 
which he bases his statements as to men, beasts, fishes, 
and birds, does here on earth extend to individuals. They 
have natural peculiarities by which they are marked off 
from one another, in almost every case with great ease 
and precision. The fair implication is, that so will it be 
in a future world. True, our present organization will 
not exist there ; but this does not imply that there will be 
no organization. Nay, the more perfect and exalted 
character of that state would rather teach us that the fu- 
ture organization will be far more exquisite and wonder- 
ful than the present ; and hence it would be strange if 
there should not also be still more marked peculiarities, by 
which each individual should be clearly known from all 
others. An interesting application of this principle, I 
leave to another part of this discourse. 

6. The scriptures present us with several characteristics 
of the spiritual or resurrection body. 

The term spiritual body, is peculiar to Paul, and chosen 
probably because it comes as near to giving an idea of the 
resurrection body, as human language admits; not be- 
cause it gives a full idea of that body. Numerous at- 
tempts have been made to define this term. It cannot 
meat, that the future body will be spirit ; for then it would 



20 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 

not diiTer from the soul. It must be material, therefore, 
unless there be in the universe a third substance, which 
is neither matter nor spirit. But if it be material, why is 
it called spiritual ? Probably the term implies purity and 
dignity, in contrast with the natural body, which is gross 
and sensual. It may be thus termed, also, because it pos- 
sesses inherent immortality, and- is a congenial residence 
for the undying soul. But though difficult to define, the 
scriptures have given us several of its characters, from 
which we obtain an exalted and pleasing idea of its na- 
ture. These characters are presented by way of contrast 
to our present bodies. 

1. The spiritual body is represented as endowed with 
great power and activity. It is sown in weakness, it is 
raised in power, says the apostle : and if, as we may rea- 
sonably suppose, angels possess similar bodies, we might 
appeal to the biblical descriptions of their active and pow- 
erful movements, to illustrate this position. Says the 
Psalmist, Bless the Lord, ye Ins angels, that excel in 
strength ; and John speaks of a mighty angel coming 
down from heaven, who laid hold on the old serpent and 
thousand years'; and the ascription of wings 
to cherubim and seraphim, implies the power of rapid 
motion; so perhaps the poet hardly exceeds the literal 
truth, when he says of the angels, that in their war with 
apostate spirits they 



BEAUTIFUL AND GLORIOUS. 21 

Pluck up the seated hills with all their load, 
Rocks, waters, woods, and by the shaggy tops 
Uplifted bear them in their hands. 

Now there is every reason to presume that future glori* 
fied saint3 will possess similar power and activity: for 
they are said to be like the angels, and to be equal to the 
angels. 

2. The spiritual body will be beautiful and glorious. 
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It will also 
resemble Christ's glorified body. Who shall change our 
vile body, says Paul, and fashion it like unto his glorious 
body, according to the working whereby he is able to subdue 
all things unto himself. In Revelation we have a figura- 
tive description of the Son of Man, that gives us an idea 
of surpassing glory : he was clothed with a garment down 
to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. 
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as 
snow : and his eyes were as aflame of fire. And his feet 
like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace. And 
his voice as the the sound of many waters. And he had in 
his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a 
sharp two edged sword. And his countenance was as the 
sun shineth in his strength. And when 1 saw him, I fell 
at his feet as dead. Oh if such a glory shall surround the 
resurrection body of the saints, what a contrast to the 
loathsome and deformed mass which is deposited in the 
grave ! No wonder that the transformation demands that 



22 INCORRUPTIBLE AND IMMORTAL. 

power in Christ, by which he is able to subdue all things 
unto himself. 

3. The spiritual body will be incorruptible and immor- 
tal. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorrup- 
tion ; this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
this mortal must put on immortality. In such a world 
as this, we see no organic being able to resist all ten- 
dency to decay, and all mechanical violence : and 
hence we may be unable to understand, how a material 
organization can remain unaffected by all chemical and 
mechanical agencies. But it is only a narrow mind, that 
supposes it understands all the possible modifications of 
matter ; and, indeed, we do know probably a substance 
in existing nature, which no such agencies can change : 
But more of this in another place. 

Although, therefore, Ave have but an imperfect idea of 
the spiritual body, the bible does so describe its character- 
istics, as to lead to exalted conceptions of its nature and 
glory; Indeed, the s rriptures probably give us all the in- 
formation concerning it, which is important, and which in 
our present state we are able to understand. 

4. Tlie scriptures teach, that the living at the last day, 
will I' tural bodies changed into spiritual* 

Behold, says Paul, I show you a mystery ; ice shall not 
nil sleep ; but ice shall all be changed ; in a moment, in the 

Ming of an eye, at the last trump : for the trum* 
shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and 



CHANGE AT THE LAST DAY. 23 

we shall be changed. And the bible has given us a few ex- 
amples of this sudden and astonishing transformation. It 
was experienced by Christ, when he was taken up and a 
cloud received him out of sight. It passed over Elijah 
also, when there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of 
fire, and he went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Enoch 
too was translated that he should not see death. In all 
these cases philosophy would gladly interpose a thousand 
questions, and try to ascertain whether there be in this 
world any thing analogous to such a surprising transfor- 
mation, or whether it is to be resolved entirely into the 
special omnipotent agency of Deity. But to all her en- 
quiries the bible is silent, and she has only to acquiesce 
in the conclusion, that the whole process is miraculous, 
and can be understood only when we stand upon the van- 
tage ground and in the clearer light of eternity. 

Such, if I mistake not, are the scriptural views of the 
resurrection. Does natural religion oppose, or illustrate 
and confirm, any of these statements ? This is the sec- 
ond point to which we shall direct your attention. 

1. In the first place, philosophy shows us, that the iden- 
tity between the present and the resurrection body, cannot 
be an identity of particles, or of organization* 

The chemist can demonstrate, that the body laid in the 
grave is decomposed into its ultimate elements, and that 
these, by almost endless transmutations, pass through, or 
rather constitute, a part of other bodies ; so that the sue- 



24 IDENTITY NOT OF PARTICLES, 

ccssive races of men that appear on the globe, consist, at 
least in part, of the same particles which entered into the 
composition of their progenitors. This makes it physical- 
ly impossible that the identical particles or atoms, which 
constitute the body laid in the grave, should belong to the 
resurrection body as a whole. 

Physiology, also, corresponds with the bible in show- 
ing that the spiritual body must be differently organized 
from the natural body. For with our present organs, the 
body is necessarily subject to decay and dissolution. It 
could not be immortal and free from suffering without a 
constant miracle to guard it against mechanical violence 
and chemical disorganization. Its future organization 
may be more wonderful than at present ; still it must be 
widely different, to make it immortal and incorruptible. 

2. Philosophy shows us, that sameness of chemical com- 
position and idiosyncrasy of form and structure are all 
that is essential to personal corporeal identity. 

What is it that constitutes bodily identity in this 
world ? Suppose a person born in this country, after liv- 
ing here twenty years, to go to China for a permanent 
residence. Now as we have reason to suppose that the 
entire particles of which a man is composed change eve 
few years, this individual, after residing ten years in 
China, will not probably retain in his composition a sin- 
gle particle of the body which he acquired in America. 
But he is still the same man, and why ?sc his body 






BUT OF CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 25 

is made up of the same kinds of elementary matter corn- 
lined in the same proportion as in America, and has the 
same form and structure. And it matters not whence 
the elements of a compound are derived, whether from 
China, or the United States ; if they are only united in 
the same proportion, they will constitute exactly the same 
substance. Thus, it can make no difference from what 
source the oxygen and hydrogen are obtained, that form 
water. It will be identically the same substance, though 
its elements come from the antipodes. So it is with the 
oxygen, hydrogen, car Son, nitrogen, phosphorus, and 
lime, that make up the human system* The essential 
thing, that makes them the flesh and bones of a man, is 
their combination in a certain definite proportion. And 
though there may be a constant loss of individual parti- 
cles, yet if their place is supplied with others of the same 
kind, no matter whence they came, they will maintain 
the identity of the body, if combined in the proper pro- 
portion : for it is essentially the chemical composition, 
not the identity of particles, that continues a man the 
same from year to year. 

The chemist, however, may doubt whether the flesh of 
man can be distinguished from that of beasts by its cheir 
ical composition alone; although there do exist slight d : l 
ferences in this respect between all classes of animals. 
But between man and quadrupeds, they are less than be- 
tween man and birds and fishes. "We are obliged, there- 

3* 



26 SPIRITUAL BODY 

fore, to add other characters in order to distinguish man 
from other animals, and individual men from one another. 
We say, therefore, that in order to identity, there must be 
2>eculiarity of form and structure. Sameness of chemical 
constitution, at all periods of man's existence, is the prin- 
cipal internal character essential to identity ; while pecu- 
liarity of form and structure give the external marks by 
which we distinguish families and individuals from one 
another. And very probably, when Paul says that the 
flesh of man is different from that of beasts, he uses the 
language not in a strict chemical sense, but embraces 
structure and form, as well as composition. 

If this be a correct view of what constitutes personal 
corporeal identity in this world, it is obvious to remark. 
that we have only to apply it to the resurrection body, in 
order to meet satisfactorily the famous objection to the 
resurrection of the body, that its particles enter into the 
composition of several bodies. By this view, it is not 
necessary that the resurrection body should contain a single 
particle of the body laid in the grave f if it only contain 
particles of the same kind, united in the same proportion, 
and the compound be made to assume the same form and 
structure as the natural body. For all this i> what often 
happens to men in this world, without exciting a suspicion 
that the identity of the individual is endangered. God 
may give to the man. raised from the grave, such a body 
pleases him, just as be does to the plant: but if it be 



MAY BE TOTALLY TSLlIvE THE TRESENT. 27 

only composed of the same elements in the same propor- 
tion, and have a peculiarity of form and structure, its 
identity with the individual buried will be preserved. 
Even if we admit, what it seems to me the bible teaches, 
that the germ of the resurrection body does spring from 
the natural body in the grave, it does not weaken the 
force of this reply to the sceptic's objection. For that 
germ may not contain a millionth part of the original par- 
ticles in the natural body ; and therefore, no one can say 
but that infinitesimal portion of the man may be preser- 
ved by Omniscience and Omnipotence, disconnected with 
everything else, and be ready at the command of Jeho- 
vah, to form the nucleus of the spiritual body. 

I would add, that since the subject of the resurrection 
of the body has been within a few years past so fully dis- 
cussed by able men, and this famous objection has been 
the grand difficulty in the way of a literal understanding 
of the inspired declarations, it seems strange, I say, that 
this simple mode of meeting the difficulty has not been 
suggested : or if it has been, the fact has escaped my no- 
tice. 

3. Philosophy furnishes us an example of attenuated 
matter, tchich appears to be scarcely, if at all, affected by 
mechanical or chemical agencies- 

The phenomena of light, heat and electricity, as well 
as the history of several comets, make it almost certain, 
that there exists, diffused through every part of the mate- 



28 THE LUMINIFEROUS ETHER. 

rial universe, an exceedingly subtle and active fluid, some- 
times called the luminiferous ether. It seems to be the 
agent by which light, heat and electricity are transmitted 
by undulations in every direction, with inconceivable ve- 
locity ; not less than 200,000 miles per second. It exists 
wherever light, heat and electricity penetrate ; and, there- 
fore, it is found, not only in what we call empty space, 
but in the most solid bodies ; since they are more or less 
permeated by these agents. There is no evidence that 
this ether possesses weight, though it has the power of 
resistance, since it obstructs the movements of several 
comets. No force, which the mechanician or the chemist 
can exert, has the least effect upon it. Nor is it cogniza- 
ble by any of the senses : and yet certain phenomena in- 
dicate its existence and prodigious activity. 

Now without asserting that the spiritual body is made 
up of the luminiferous ether, or of a substance analogous 
to it, it is interesting that we have evidence of the exist- 
ence of such a substance in nature, and great reason to 
believe it to be attenuated matter. Reasoning on the 
subject, we should presume that the future body would 
be of .such a nature as to be unaflbeted by mechanical or 
chemical action ; and which might exist with equal free- 
dom, [ind without change, in the midst of the sun, or the 
volcano, or in the polar ice : and yet that it would possess 
great activity and energy ; and such a substance we have 
before u^ in this universal ether. Of such a substance, 



GERM FROM THE GRAVE. 29 

therefore, the spiritual body may be composed, or of some- 
thin £ analogous to it. 

4. Finally, philosophy cannot show that the germ of the 
future spiritual body will not arise from the grave. 

Suppose that germ to consist of the subtle fluid that 
has been described. Since this can be made cognizable 
by none of the senses, nor by any other means, how do 
we know but it may be attached to the sleeping dust, or 
accompany that dust wherever it may be scattered. 
What though the grosser particles of the body may be 
decomposed and scattered to the ends of the earth, and 
assume new forms of organise: : yet who knows but a 
portion of this wonderful form of matter, connected with 
the body in this world, may remain isolated till the resur- 
rection morning, and await the Divine summons to be re- 
united with the immortal spirit. With the facts respect- 
ing the ether in mind, shall we undertake to prove this 
impossible ? It must be a superficial philosophy that will 
take up such a gauntlet. And yet how often has such a 
philosophy put the question, how are the dead raised up f 
and with what body do they come ? 

Natural theology, then, as it seems to me, harmonizes 
fully with the revealed doctrine of the resurrection ; nay, 
it throws some light on the meaning of scripture, and 
silences the sceptical objection. We need not, therefore, 
abandon this animating doctrine, or torture the language 



30 LIFE FROM DEATH. 

of the bible, till it tells us that the resurrection is already 
past. 

It only remains, in the third place, that we point out 
some symbolizations of the resurrection, in the phenome- 
na of spring. It may be thought that this part of my 
subject can hardly be derived from the text. True, it is 
only the germination and development of the vegetable 
world that are alluded to in the passage. But to bring 
the developments of the animal kingdom into the same 
category, is surely no violation of logic ; since it is only 
extending to the whole organic world, what the scrip- 
tures predicate of a part. 

1. In the first place, spring presents us with numerous 
examples of life emerging from apparent death. 

Had we no experience of the effects of spring, we could 
not imagine, during the winter months of such a climate 
as ours, that leaves, and flowers, and fruit, would ever 
clothe the barren trees, or a green carpet again cover the 
earth, or the air, the earth and the waters swarm with 
animal life. And when we should witness the ten thou- 
sand forms of vegetable and animal existence, which the 
genial influences of sp ; ng develope, it would seem almost 
as if a new creation had taken place. Experience, indeed, 
and the aid of the microscope, enable us to discover evi- 
dences of vitality, where, to common sbservation, nature 
seems bound only in icy fetters. Yet without such aids, 



SCENES AT THE RESURRECTION. 31 

all the developments of spring would seem to be made 
on the bosom of death. 

Just so it is with the resurrection of the dead. Go to 
their burial place, and see if among the great congrega- 
tion that lie side by side beneath the soil, you can discov- 
er any signs of life. You call, but there is no answer : 
you remove three feet of earth ; but you shrink back hor- 
rified at the corruption that riots there upon all ages and 
all classes. Yet when the last trumpet shall sound, that 
whole surface shall become instinct with life, and corrup- 
tion shall put on incorruption. Go if you will and trav- 
erse the ten thousand battle fields, that have been the 
vast slaughtering places of man, from Nimrod to Bona- 
parte ; and all is silence and solitude over the graves of 
these millions. But how changed the scene on the resur- 
rection morning ! Then not less than one thousand rail- 
lions of human beings shall start up from these battle 
fields, and crowd upwards to the judgment seat. What 
vast multitudes too, shall ascend from the site of such an- 
cient cities as Nineveh, and Babylon, and Thebes, and 
Palmyra, and a hundred other great centers of population, 
now the seat of solitude and desolation. Think of Jeru- 
salem, which for more than 2000 years has been the great 
central slaughter house of the world ; where human relics, 
and comminuted dwellings have accumulated on the sur- 
face to the depth of 40 or 50 feet, and the whole has been 
soaked a thousand times with blood. Oh think of the scene, 



32 CHANGES OF STRUCTURE. 

when the millions that lie buried there, shall start into 
life at the shout of the descending Judge and the archan- 
gel's voice. From the sea's broad surface, too, what mul- 
titudes shall be seen ascending to be judged according to 
the deeds done in the body. Indeed, when we remember 
that probably as many as ten billions of human beings 
have already dwelt upon this globe, reasonably may we 
enquire, from what portion of its surface, will not myriads 
start into life at the final summons ? 

2. In the second place spring presents us with marvellous 
developments of structure and changes of condition in the 
organic world. 

As we look abroad over the unfolding landscape of 
spring, how should we be struck with the contrast, could 
all the seeds producing the vegetation of that landscape 
be laid before us ! Who, by looking at the seed, could 
once in a thousand times predict the character of the plant 
that would spring from it ; or trace out any analogy be- 
tween them ? That such an analogy exists, I admit ; but 
vernal developments can alone show us what it is ; and 
we are often amazed and delighted by these develop- 
ments. And the wonder rises higher as our instruments 
of examination are more perfect. There is, indeed, more 
simplicity of structure in th. ble than the animal 

frame. But the organs arc minute and complicated 
enough in the former, to fiance the powers of the 

microscope; or rather, there arc wonders in the vegeta- 



TRANSFORMATIONS OF ANIMALS. 33 

ble structure, which lie beyond the reach of that instru- 
ment. And jet, how easily are they all unfolded when 
spring applies to the vegetable world her transmuting 
touch. 

But the changes among animals which spring devel- 
opes, are still more striking, and analogous to those of the 
future resurrection. At that time, many of the animals 
that have lain during the winter months in a state of tor- 
pidity, hardly to be distinguished from death, begin to 
show signs of returning vitality, and soon assume the 
whole activity of their natures, and enter upon a new 
scene of enjoyment. Many too, not entirely torpid, pass 
through transformations which bring them into states of 
existence so different from all former ones, that it must 
seem to them almost a new creation. Indeed, almost up 
to the present time, they have been regarded by the 
ablest naturalists as different species of animals, and even 
as belonging to different classes in their different states. 
In fact could they answer the question themselves, they 
would probably testify that their experience in one state is 
totally diverse from their experience in every other state. 
I refer to those cases which the naturalists denominate al- 
ternate reproduction : in some of these cases the whole 
series of transformations is not completed till the eighth 
or ninth generation : that is, it is only in the eighth or 
ninth generation that the perfect animal is produced. It 
is in the spring, also, for the most part, that we witness 

4 



34 METAMORPHOSIS OF INSECTS. 

what lias long been thought an illustration of this subject ; 
I mean the metamorphosis of insects. Enveloped in his 
silken shroud, the chrysalis has passed the wintry months 
in some obscure spot, apparently almost as lifeless aa 
man in the grave* But in the vernal season it bursts 
from its prison, endowed with new life and beauty. It 
entered its narrow tomb an unsightly worm ; but it 
comes forth a perfect insect, with splendid colors and 
strong wings, to pass through a season of great activity 
and apparently of high enjoyment. 

Now so striking is the analogy between these metamor- 
phoses and the reanimation of man, that many able wri- 
ters on natural theology have considered them as direct 
proof of his future resurrection. But unfortunately 
there is one defect in the analogy, that seems to have 
been overlooked. When man is laid in the grave, we 
know that no vestige of life remains. We may inflict 
whatever injury we please upon the dead body, but it 
will exhibit no signs of sensibility. Not so with the chrys* 
alis. In its most torpid state, you can always find marks 
of vitality, or rather, if you cannot discover signs of life, 
it will never come forth as a perfect insect. The con- 
clusion, therefore, is, that the curious facts respecting in- 
sect metamorphosis, although a beautiful emblem of man's 
resurrection, are but a poor argument in direct proof of 
the doctrine. They do, however, show us in what widely 
different states the same animal may exist, and what cu- 



man's transformation. 35 

rious means nature has provided, by which they may pass 
from one of those states into another, not only unharmed, 
but with higher developments of beauty and richer 
means of enjoyment ; all this, I say, does afford a strong 
presumption that the change of death may pass upon man 
witli no other effect upon his interior nature, than to fit it 
to unfold in higher perfection in eternity. 

And every thing in religion and philosophy indicates that 
man will come forth from the grave with a body vastly 
better adapted for the exercise of his mental and moral 
powers than his present organization. Indeed, wonder- 
ful as that organization is, both scripture and experience 
testify, that in this world, because it is a state of sin and 
death, the whole creation groaneth and traveleth in pain 
together. In this tabernacle man's spirit groans, being 
burthened, and God meant it to be in a fettered and in 
many respects an uncongenial state, in order that it might 
w^ait with earnest expectation for the manifestation of the 
sons of God, — in other words, for the adoption, which 
the apostle declares to be, the redemption of the body. 
Here, it is a natural body ; there, it will be spiritual : sown 
in dishonor in the grave, but raised in glory » We have 
shown how wide the difference may be between the natu- 
ral and the spiritual body, consistently with the scriptural 
representations : and doubtless the changes that will be 
undergone, will far transcend our present conceptions. 
Here, it is mortal ; there, immortal; here, gross, and the 



36 HOPE CHANGED 

seat of gross appetites ; there, etherial and free from 
every taint of sense or sin : here, the seat of pain : there, 
invulnerable to violence, disorganization, and disease. 
Oh, what wonders will such a body contain ; and how 
will its study force from us, with far deeper emphasis 
than it was ever uttered in this world, the exclamation, 
1 am fear fully and wonderfully made! 

o. In the third place, in the spring hope changes into 
fruition. 

During the long winter months of high latitudes, how 
often do men sigh after the return of spring ! Having 
had so long experience of the certain revolutions of the 
seasons, their expectation of spring's return, to scatter the 
snows, unlock the streams, mantle the earth with a green 
carpet, and cover the vegetable world with flowers of 
every form and hue, and make the air, earth, and waters, 
again to teem with life and motion ; this expectation, I 
say, is almost too strong to be called hope : And yet it 
may fail. We know not when the last vernal season may 
come : for of that day knoivcth no man, but the Father on- 
ly. But when we are actually rioting in the midst of ver- 
nal glories, we feel that all is a rejoicing reality. Every 
doubt and fear have departed, and the fruition is richer 
the anticipation. 

As the Christian turns his thoughts and his ryes to the 
place of th< dead, he also hopes and longs for the day 

en all that Ble< pin shall be reanimated, and the 



INTO FRUITION. 37 

grave shall give up its charge. And yet, when faith i8 
weak, how often do desponding doubts and fears come 
over his mind ! Oh, could he hear that voice, which 
once said, Lazarus come forth, in like manner summon all 
the countless millions of earth from their long sleep, 
what a glorious realization of fond hopes would he expe- 
rience ! And ere long he shall hear it, and his hopes be 
changed into vision. O, what a change, and what a vision ! 
And to know too, that his own body, on earth so frail, and 
it may be so full of pain and infirmity, shall then come forth 
purified, etherial, incorruptible, and adapted to be the resi- 
dence of the sinless and immortal spirit, how delightful 
the anticipation. 

Take for an example the long tried and desponding in- 
valid. Year after year, and decade after decade, it may 
be, his frail system has battled manfully with the insidi- 
ous workings of disease. Those in vigorous health re- 
gard the most of his complaints perhaps as imaginary, 
and suppose they might easily be thrown off by vigorous 
effort ; or at the most, they look upon him with silent 
pity. But the feverish pulse, the aching head, the fail- 
ing strength, the desponding spirits, and the enfeebled 
mind, too surely teach him that disease is gaining 
strength, and must ere long be conqueror. He tries all 
that the strictest rules of hygiene can do, to restore the 
wasting energies ; and sometimes hope cheers him for a 
little while with the sweet vision of renovated health ; but 

4* 



38 DIVINE POWER, 

a deeper darkness succeeds, and each successive alterna- 
tion of hope and despondency gives to the latter more 
and more of a predominance. At length, if his heart has 
felt the transforming power of the Gospel, his thoughts 
turn with deepening interest to that world where the in- 
habitant will not say I am sick ; and the hope of a resur- 
rection of his now diseased and suffering body to im- 
mortal health and vigor, sends a thrill of delightful antici- 
pation through his sinking heart. Much as he has suffer- 
ed in his present body, he still feels for it a strong at- 
tachment ; especially when he reflects how wonderfully 
it has held out under the assaults of disease ; and it is a 
delightful thought, that it shall one day be restored to 
him, transformed indeed gloriously, but retaining its iden- 
tity, and having become invulnerable to all created pow- 
er, shall be his eternal and happy dwelling place. Oh, 
animating hope ! And it is eminently the invalid's hope; 
for how little do they know of its mighty power, whose 
pulse of health always beats strong, and whose spirits are 
always buoyant and I sappy. 

4- In the fourth place, spring opens upon us brighter 
displays of Divine Power, Wisdom and Goodness. 

Ev; on has, indeed, its peculiar ' exhibitions of 

these attributes, lint in the winter months, they are 
chiefly manifestations of inorganic laws. Chemistry is at 
work, with its curious transmutations and molecular forces, 
to converl water into splendid and most useful forms of 
crystallization ; mantling the earth with snow and ice, and 






WISDOM AND GOODNESS. 39 

thus guarding organic beings from the loss of vital heat. 
But after all, it is when organic nature is most fully de- 
veloped, that we are most impressed by the Divine wis- 
dom and power. Indeed, the germination and growth of 
an animal or plant, such as we witness in the spring, are 
most wonderful processes ; and were they not so common, 
they would be as impressive as miracles. And really, 
what is it but the direct power of God, that produces 
these astonishing effects ? True, we speak of the laws 
by which vegetables and animals are made to grow and 
flourish. But this is only saying that God works accord- 
ing to fixed rules : for what is a law without the effi- 
cient agency of the lawgiver ? Why not at once ascribe 
to Divine Power the developments of organic life, which 
that Power can alone produce, and thus follow the exam- 
ple of the sacred writers, who seem as much impressed by 
the ordinary as by the extraordinary movements of na- 
ture, and see the hand of God in the one as distinctly a9 
in the other. In like manner, when spring opens upon 
us unnumbered examples of expanding organisms, we 
should look upon them all as the direct fruits of Divine 
Power and Wisdom, and rejoice in them as indications of 
Divine Goodness. 

And just so when the winter of the grave is past, and 
spring shall visit the mouldering urn, and the spiritual 
shall replace the natural body, how astonishing, have we 
reason to suppose, will be the manifestations of these Di« 



40 DEVELOPMENTS 

vine attributes which that new condition will present ! If 
in this world, so marred by sin, the organism is full of 
wonders, what shall be its marvelousness, when an or- 
ganization exists adapted to a sinless and immortal state, 
to the free exercise of the intellectual and moral powers, 
and to ever advancing holiness and happiness ! The 
scriptures allow us to give our imagination free scope, in 
attempting to conceive of the splendors of that state : for 
they seize upon the most brilliant scenes of time to set 
forth its external glories. 

5. In the fifth place, the animating scenes of spring in- 
spire the expectation of yet richer developments of organic 
nature. 

To see the expanding bud, the opening flower, ancl the 
green fields, and to drink in the balmy breezes loaded 
with refreshing odors, is indeed most animating and" de- 
lightful. But a part of the pleasure arises from the con- 
fident expectation that the fresh beauties of spring shall 
ripen into the more enduring glories of summer, and the 
mellow fruits of autumn. The latter, indeed, we confi- 
dently expect as a consequence of the former, and there- 
fore, as they come on, we are less impressed by their 
novelty. But let them cease to follow at the expected 
time, and we should find that beautiful as were the bios- 
Boms of spring, they could not compare in intrinsic im- 
portance witli the more substantial developments of sum- 
mer and autumn. 



YET RICHER. 41 

When the spring time of the resurrection shall arrive, 
and man finds himself united to his spiritual body, he will 
no doubt be amazed and delighted by the novelty and 
splendor of his house not made with hands, eternal in the 
heavens* I know not what will be the anatomy and phy- 
siology of the spiritual body. But since it is adapted to 
a far higher state of existence, can we doubt that in struc- 
ture and function it will equally transcend the natural 
body ? It may not possess such senses as we now em- 
ploy ; but there must be means of receiving knowledge, 
far more delicate, certain, and rapid, than we now 
enjoy. Then too the spiritual body must be pos- 
sessed of an activity incapable of fatigue, and eminently 
fitted for abstraction. The memory may be expect- 
ed to retain without effort, every impression made upon it. 
The organization must likewise be so exquisite, as never 
to mislead, or allure from duty. All the powers, indeed, 
of body and mind, must be in perfect harmony 3 and nev- 
er know any of those conflicts which in this world so 
cloud the intellect, pervert the will, and estrange the af- 
fections from holiness and God. 

But though the soul, when it first enters such a body, 
will experience intense delight, yet it will doubtless soon 
discover that still richer developments are in reserve for 
it: for we have every reason to suppose, both from the 
nature of the soul, and the whole analogy of the world, 
that everlasting progress and development are the destiny 



• 



42 WELL KNOWN FORMS 

of the glorified spirit ; and that the grand means of such 
progress will be the exercise of all the powers, corpo- 
real, mental, and moral. Nay, where is the objection to 
the supposition, that the glorified spirit may pass success- 
ively into higher and higher conditions of being, by 
means of changes as great, it may be, as those that con- 
duct it from this world into another : yet not of such a 
nature as implies the least amount of suffering. For 
even what we call death, might be made a transition de- 
lightful in prospect and in experience. 

It is reasonable then to suppose, that the enchanting 
scenes of the spring time of future existence will be only 
an earnest of richer glories, which can be seen in bright 
perspective, along the pathway of the whole immortal 
existence, and that as the soul advances on that path, t^e 
vision will become wider and more magnificent forever 
and ever. 

6. Finally, spring restores to us many well remembered 
forms of vegetable and animal life. 

When the frosts of autumn came on, it was saddening 
to see how many familiar forms of the vegetable world, 
to whirl 1 we had become attached, were yielding up their 
foliage ; and though they descended to the grave in a 
gaudy «ln i8S, we could not but feel that we werelosingthe 
society of friends. Then too, the song of birds ceased in 
the fields and the woods, or they uttered only a few soli- 
tary ami farewell notes, as they withdrew to their south- 



RESTORED. 43 

ern retreats. In like manner, nearly all other voices of 
the animal world soon ceased, and during the long months of 
winter, it was the analogy of nature only that inspired the 
expectation of ever again beholding forms that seemed 
to have disappeared forever. Yet with the opening 
spring they have come back : in a new dress indeed ; but 
still identically the same, and awakening delightful remin- 
iscences and anticipations. Some of them have been con- 
cealed among us and subjected to the stern power of win- 
ter ; and others have fled far away to escape his wither- 
ing blasts. But they have reappeared as fresh and lovely 
as ever : yea more so : nor can we perceive that one fea- 
ture is gone, or changed, save that the fresher charms of 
youth are upon them. Every spire of grass is developed 
with the same form, and colour, and position, as its pro- 
genitors, so that the Festuca is at once known from the 
Poa and Agrostis, and the Dactylis from the Phleum. 
The Anemones and the Violets, the Gnaphalium, the Tri- 
folium, the Leontodon, the Hepatica and the Trillium, 
have been restored without the loss of a single tint of col- 
oring, or change in the form of their leaves, their stems, or 
their flowers. The oak also, and the maple, the elm and 
the poplar, the willow and the birch, the Cornus and the 
Pyrus, the pine and the spruce, and a thousand other spe- 
cies of trees and shrubs, put forth the same peculiar 
leaves and flowers, and take the same specific shapes and 
colors, which they have had since first they rose out of 



44 OLD FRIENDS RETURNED. 

the earth at the Divine Command. The same familiar 
voices meet us too, from' the fields and the groves. At 
the earliest dawn, the robin's cheerful song is heard, with 
the clear rich note of the lark, the soft tone of the blue- 
bird, the twitter of the swallow, the cooing of the dove, 
the clear and cheerful voice of the blackbird, and the 
hoarse yet welcome garrulity of the crow. In short, 
wherever we turn our eyes, or wherever we open our 
ears, forms and sounds of vegetable and animal life meet 
us in almost endless profusion, yet familiar to us from our 
earliest days ; and most of them dear to us, not only be- 
cause of their inherent beauty and loveliness, but because 
they are associated with the most cherished recollections 
of our lives. When we look back upon life, we see much 
that is painful because marred by sin. But natural ob- 
jects are always remembered with pleasure, because they 
wear the freshness and the innocence of Paradise. Du- 
ring the stern reign of winter we often sighed for the re- 
turn of the foliage and the flowers, and the countless 
voices of gladness, which burst forth from all nature in 
the vernal season. And now the desire is gratified, and 
while the soft and healthful breezes fan us, the smile and 
the song of nature make us almost forget for a time that 
we arc in a world of sin and suffering. 

How delightful now to be able to say, thus shall it be 

with the resurrection of the dead 1 Then, indeed, shall 

e deliver up a multitude of well remembered and 



FRIENDS WILL KNOW ONE ANOTHER. 45 

endeared forms, which in sadness we committed to its 
charge. In another part of this discourse I have endeav- 
ored to show, that the spiritual body will possess a specific 
and individual identity. Now what is it that enables us 
in the spring to recognize the plants and animals 
emerging from the grave of winter, as the same in kind 
with those that flourished in the previous year? It is 
simply by their specific identity, which has been preserv- 
ed through all the changes and rigors of winter. Just so 
does the bible describe the specific character of man, and 
by parity of reason that of individuals, as being unharm- 
ed by the mechanical and chemical changes consequent 
upon death. We may expect, therefore, to be able at 
the resurrection, to distinguish those whom we have 
known on earth, as readily as we do the plants and ani- 
mals of spring. It is strange, indeed, apart from this 
doctrine of the preservation of specific identity, how theo- 
logians could ever have doubted whether men would be 
able to recognize one another in the eternal world : for 
they all admit that memory will remain, and some means 
of intercommunication be possessed, at least as certain as 
on earth. How then, could individuals be prevented from 
learning to recognize one another, even though every evi- 
dence of corporeal identity be lost ? But when the apos- 
tle says, that God giveth to every seed his own body, and 
that so it will be with the resurrection of the dead, every 

5 



46 LET THE BEREAVED 

naturalist feels sure that there will exist also, such marks 
of identity between the natural and the spiritual body, as 
will enable those familiar with the one, to recognize the 
other. I pretend not, indeed, to describe how that spe- 
cific identity can be preserved, amid the decompositions 
of the grave ; especially when I know that flesh and blood 
cannot inherit the kingdom of God. But I do know, that 
the specific characteristics of plants and animals are main- 
tained in this world under changes perhaps equally great ; 
and when Jehovah declares, that so it shall be in the res- 
urrection of the dead, I joyfully acquiesce in the doctrine, 
because I know that infinite power can accomplish that 
which infinite wisdom determines. 

I come, then, my hearers, with my heart full of this 
consoling doctrine, to pour it into the bosoms of the af- 
flicted. And who of us have not sometimes been afflicted 
in the removal of those whose forms and features have 
been ever since remembered with the deepest inter- 
est. We have called in the aid, it may be, of painting 
fend photography, to embalm their features, and the ex- 
pression which the workings of the soul within gave to the 
countenance. And how deep was our anguish, when we 
last looked upon them, although death had marred their 
countenances, as we saw the grave closing over their re- 
mains. But if the doctrine of this discourse be true, and if 
they were the true disciples of Christ, they shall be re- 



BE COMFORTED. 47 

stored to us in the resurrection morning, and we shall re- 
cognize them amid the millions, who then awake from the 
grave, as we now recognize the plants and animals of 
spring. There shall be a characteristic something in 
their spiritual bodies, that will lead us at once, and 
with exulting joy, to fly to their embrace. Fathers and 
mothers, who have been called to yield to the demands of 
death, a darling and pious child, while yet the dew and 
the beauty of youth were fresh upon him, go forth at the 
shout of the archangel, and you shall find that child, glow- 
ing indeed with celestial beauty and glory, yet retaining 
something of that same expression which has stamped his 
image so deeply on your heart. And thou disconsolate 
man, from whom death has taken the Wife of your youth, 
go thou forth at the same signal, and you shall at once 
distinguish her too, amid ascending millions, and become 
her everlasting companion, in that world where they neither 
marry nor are given in marriage, hut are as the angels of 
God. The lonely widow too, let her come, and she shall 
recognize that countenance, which a noble soul and gen- 
erous affection have made indelible on her heart, as once 
her husband and protector, nor shall any power be able 
again to tear him from her side ; but the holy joys of 
eternity shall be doubly sweet, because enjoyed together. 
Children of beloved Christian parents, come ye, also, and 
rush again into the embrace of those who gave you being, 



48 RECOGNITIONS 

and who trained you up for heaven, and they shall take 
you by the hand and still be your guides and companions 
amid the wonders of the New Jerusalem. There like- 
wise shall the brother, from whom death has torn an af- 
fectionate brother or sister, and the sister, who has often 
wept over a departed brother, or sister, find them again 
radiant with heavenly glory, yet retaining the traces of 
their earthly character. And whatever Christian weeps 
over the memory of a Christian friend, let him wipe away 
his tears, and prepare to meet that friend, when the 
graves have given up their dead, with a body like unto 
Christ's, yet fashioned so as to make it only a transmuted 
and glorified natural body, recognized by one of those 
golden links that bind the natural to the spiritual, the 
mortal to the immortal. Oh, blessed season of recogni- 
tion and joy begun ! How will it wipe away in a moment 
every Christian mourner's tears, and restore to him his 
departed friends, and bring them all together in the pres- 
ence of their common Lord, to enjoy his smiles, and the 
delightfnl intercourse of one another, with no fear of dis- 
astrous change or separation, forever and ever. Sur- 
rounded as we are, my Christian friends, by the resurrec- 
tions of spring, let us look upon the thousand forms of 
life and beauty that meet us from day to day, as symboli- 
zations of that nobler resurrection, when forms a thous- 
and times dearer shall start into life from a deeper win* 



IN HEAVEN. 49 

ter, and put on a verdure that will never decay, and a 
glory that will never fade. Oh, that this bright hope 
might stimulate us so to live and to labor, that not only 
ourselves, but all whom we love on earth, shall come 
forth at the resurrection of the just, purified from the 
stains and sins of earth, and ripe for the perfect holiness 
and perfect happiness of heaven ! 



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THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF SUMMER, 



THE TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF SUMMER 



And God spake unto Noah and to his sons with him, 
sating, and i, behold i establish mx covenant with 
tou and with tour seed after you : and with every 
living creature that is with you of the fowl, of 
the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with 
tou, from all that go out of the ark, to evert 
beast of the earth. and i will establish my cov- 
enant with you j neither shall all flesh be cut off 
any more by the waters of a flood : neither shall 
there any more be a flood to destroy the earth, 
And God said, this is the token of the covenant 
which i make between you and me, and every liv- 
ing creature that is with you, for perpetual gener- 
ations, i do set my bow in the clouds, and it shall 
be for a token of a covenant between me and the 

EARTH. AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS WHEN I BRING A 
CLOUD OYER THE EARTH, THAT THE BOW SHALL BE SEEN 
IN THE CLOUD. AND I WILL REMEMBER MY COVENANT 
WHICH IS BETWEEN ME AND YOU AND EVERY LIVING 
CREATURE OF ALL FLESH; AND THE WATERS SHALL NO 
MORE BECOME A FLOOD TO DESTROY ALL FLESH. AND THE 



54 SOOTHING EIFECT 

BOW SHALL BE IN THE CLOUD J AND I WILL LOOK UPON IT 
THAT I MAT REMEMBER THE EVERLASTING COVENANT BE- 
TWEEN God and every living creature of all flesh 
that is upon the earth. — Genesis 9 : 8 — 16. 

It does not follow from this description, that the rain- 
bow had no existence before the deluge, but only that 
God appealed to it upon the subsidence of the waters, as 
a token or sign of the promise or covenant he then made 
with the earth. Whenever that sign should appear in 
the cloud, it would be a pledge that the constancy of na- 
ture was not again to be interrupted in order to deluge 
the earth. 

Every one has observed and delighted in the tranquil- 
izing influence of striking scenes in nature. Let a man's 
nerves be ever so much rasped and irritated by the colli- 
sions and perplexities of life, how quickly will they be 
soothed, if some splendid landscape bursts at once upon 
his sight ; if a meteor rushes across the heavens ; or the 
northern aurora decorates the sky ; if the thunder cloud 
rises slowly and majestically, or the sun emerges after a 
storm and paints a rainbow upon the retiring darkness. 
It is as if, while thus excited and ruffled, he were to attempt 
to perform a piece of music, or were to listen to one who 
has a pleasant voice and can phij/ well on an instrument. 
He could not sing, and with difficulty could he hear mu- 
sic well executed; without becoming tranquil. And there 
is a music in the striking scenes of nature still more po- 



OF NATURAL PHENOMENA. 55 

tent, which exerts a magic power to soothe the agitated, 
and cheer the desponding heart. 

But such an effect is not the highest and most impor- 
tant influence which we should seek from natural phe- 
nomena. They teach many a moral lesson with great 
clearness and force ; and the religious man should ever 
desire to secure this most needed benefit from every thing 
beautiful and sublime in nature. 

You will see by my text, that my object on this occa- 
sion, is, to call your attention to one of the most splendid 
and not unfrequent spectacles, which crown the balmy 
season of summer. I would point out those religious 
truths, which the rainbow, by fair analogy, illustrates and 
impresses. 

In the first place, the text shows us that the rainbow is a 
token, or pledge of God's fidelity to his word. 

In order to appreciate the value of this pledge to Noah 
and his family and his immediate successors, we need only 
place ourselves in their circumstances. The constancy of 
nature had been broken in upon, and a frightful catastro- 
phe had followed, involving the whole world in destruc- 
tion, save a single family. That family had seen a rain 
commence, as any other rain ; yet it ceased not for forty 
days ; and then too, the ocean came rolling in its giant 
waves upon the land, engulphing in awful ruin, the unbe- 
lieving world, and sparing only those, who, trusting in God's 
word, had prepared an ark and were borne upwards by the 



d(j the pledge of god's fidelity. 

swelling flood. As they saw multitudes struggle in' vain 
against the waters, and their dead bodies at length strew- 
ed over the universal flood, how deeply must they have 
been impresssd with the powerlessness of man when God 
rises up in anger, and how easy for him to turn all nature 
into a chaos in the execution of vindictive justice upon 
the guilty. The inquiry, therefore, must have been one 
of deep interest to these survivers and their descendants, 
to whom for several generations the story of the deluge 
would be told with the vividness of a present reality,—* 
whether they might not expect other special interpositions 
of Divine Power, arresting the ordinary operations of na- 
ture, whenever the guilty deserved punishment. And 
doubtless they felt as if their own conduct deserved from 
Infinite Holiness, a repetition of the terrible infliction. 
How cheering then to hear God say, 1 will establish my 
covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cat off any 
more by the waters of a flood. I will not again curse the 
ground any more for man-s sake: for the imagination of 
marfs heart is evil from his youth : neither will I again 
smite any more everything living as I have done. While 
the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and 
heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall 
not cease. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be 
for a token of a covenant between me (aid the earth. And 
tJte bow shall be in the cloud, <i ikJ I will look upon it tl iat 
J mag remember the everlasting covenant between God and 



SPECIAL INTERPOSITION. 57 

every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. 
Oh, with what intense anxiety must these survivors, after 
leaving the ark, have watched the clouds, to see if the 
promised sign should appear ! and what exultation must 
have swelled their bosoms, as they saw the many colored 
arch spanning the heavens and quelling their fears, and 
inspiring confidence in God, and gratitude towards him. 
No wonder that the rainbow, as well as every other cir- 
cumstance connected with the deluge, should have enter- 
ed so largely into the mythological systems of heathen 
antiquity, and that the bow should have been personified 
in the goddess Iris. 

It did not require many generations to pass, before men 
lost their deep moral interest in the rainbow : for the long 
continued constancy of nature dissipated their fears of its 
interruption : and at this day, how few, as they look up- 
on this phenomenon, remember at all that it is the token 
of that only covenant, which ensures the constancy of na- 
ture's operations ! But that pledge is indeed our only se- 
curity. We do not learn, either from philosophy or rev- 
elation, that God might not as certainly and successfully 
have governed the world by special interposition, as by 
fixed laws. Indeed, special interposition might have 
been easily made the law, and uniformity the exception. 
But how disastrous would such a state of things have 
been to the human family ! Suppose that every time we 
saw the clouds rising, we were to anticipate a penal del- 

6 



58 THE PLEDGE 

uge ; or every time the thunder and lightning played, we 
were to expect some signal manifestation of God's dis- 
pleasure towards the guilty : and who is not conscious 
enough of guilt to feel that he deserves the stroke. Still 
more painful must have been our apprehensions, when the 
comet's train was in the heavens, or the aurora borealis 
was flashing up from the horizon, or the sun and moon 
were suffering eclipse ! The heathen, and those extreme- 
ly ignorant, have these fears to some extent : and we 
know how miserable it makes them. Thus saith the Lord, 
learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at 
the signs of heaven ; for the heathen are dismayed at them. 
Let us then, remember with gratitude, as we look upon 
the bow of summer, that it is our only pledge against an 
insecurity and uncertainty in nature, that would convert 
the world into a torturing house, where conscience would 
act as inquisitor. 

But this is not all. For if the rainbow is the token of 
God's covenant with the material universe, it is also, by 
parity of reason, a pledge of the fulfilment of all his promis- 
es, and all his threatening?. For the last four thousand 
years, God has not failed of the promise that seed time and 
harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and 
day and night, shall not cease. "Why should we doubt any 
more that he will show the same fidelity to all the prom- 

: and Oh, how rich and abundant they are, to th< 
who are faithful in his servi< is not man that he 



of god's promises. 59 

should lie ; neither the son of man that he should repent : 
hath he said, and shall he not do it ? or hath he spoken, 
and shall he not make it good? God, says the apostle, 
willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise 
the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: 
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible 
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who 
have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us. 
And in another place, the same apostle, speaking of 
Christ, says, For all the promises of God in him, are yea, 
and in him amen, unto the glory of God, by us. Truly 
we may add the inference which he makes on this subject, 
from another train of reasoning : If God be for us^ who 
can be against us ? 

But I need not make this point a matter of inference 
from the promises of God in general : for he has express- 
ly compared his covenant with Noah, to that made with 
his people. This, says he, is as the waters of Noah unto 
me : for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no 
more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not 
be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains 
shall depart \ and the hills be removed ; but my kindness 
shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my 
peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. 
How strong this language ! It does not say that God's 
covenant with his people is as firm as that with the ma- 
terial universe as ratified by the rainbow. But it goes 



60 



god's threatenings 



farther, and declares that even though the latter be bro- 
ken, so that the mountains shall depart, and the hills be 
removed, yet his promises to his people shall neverthe- 
less abide, and they need not fear amid a dissolving uni- 
verse. 

As the Christian, then, looks upon the bow of summer 
spanning the arch of heaven, what a lesson of trust in 
God does it teach him ! Only one half hour before, per- 
haps, he was surrounded by blackness and darkness and 
tempest ; and no sign in nature indicated a cessation of 
the wild commotion of the elements. But how soon was 
the change accomplished, that brought back the light, and 
hushed the winds, and made beauty and glory almost un- 
earthly succeed the elemental war ! And that bow which 
crowns the whole scene, tells the Christian, that with like 

ge can God make the storms of affliction and trial, and 
the furious onsets of temptation, and the darkness of de- 
spondency, pass away, and peace and hope revisit the 
trembling heart, and fill it with joy unspeakable and full 
of glory. In the darkest hour, therefore, let the believer 
cling to the promise of God and fear no evil, and wait in 
assured hope for his arm to clear the darkest skies, and 
forget not, that though weeping may continue for a night, 
joy cometh in the morning* 

But God has promulgated threatenings as well as 
proi (lis holy law has penalties as well as re- 

wards: penalties of deep and terrible import, whose an- 



WILL BE EXECUTED. 01 

nouncement is couched in language and metaphors the 
most terrific which the vocabulary and the rhetoric of 
man can command. And it is declared of these too, that 
though heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle 
shall in no ivise pass from the law till all be fulfilled. 
What infatuation, then, for man to fancy that these 
threatening^ will not be executed ! How should any one 
presuming to entertain such fancies be rebuked, as he 
looks upon the rainbow, and is there reminded that in 
nothing else has God failed to be as £ood as his word. 
Beautiful then as the bow of heaven is, it speaks only ter- 
ror and denunciation to the unhumbled sinner. 

The Hindoo mythology teaches that there is a certain 
fluid prepared by the gods, called the Amreetta, or drink 
of immortality, which confers eternal life upon all that 
taste it. But to the pious man, along with immortality, 
it brings happiness without measure and without end : 
w T hile in the wicked, it works everlasting agony. So if 
the rainbow were viewed aright, it would awaken confi- 
dence and joy in the pious heart, but fear and distress in 
the wicked. And if such are not its opposite effects, it is 
because men regard not its original dedication, as a wit- 
ness of God's faithfulness to his declarations. 

In the second place, the rainbow is an emblem of the 
covenant of redemption. 

I might have mentioned this fact without impropriety, 
under the first head. But there are some peculiarities of 

6* 



62 THE COVENANT 

resemblance, which make a separate notice more appro- 
priate. 

When the law was proclaimed on Sinai, the mountain 
was covered with a thick cloud, from which issued the 
thunderings and the lightnings and the loud trumpet ; but 
there was no bow upon that cloud. All was suited to a 
dispensation, whose unyielding demand was, this do and 
thou shcdt live. Whosoever keepeth the whole law, and 
yet offendeth in one point, is guilty of all. But when the 
Gospel was proclaimed, it painted a bow of promise upon 
that cloud; not by dissipating the cloud, or robbing it of 
its thunders, but only turning them upon the head of a 
substitute, and inviting the guilty and the lost to take 
shelter beneath the cross. 

We speak of the rainbow as painted upon the clouds. 
But who has not seen its arch creep downward upon the 
mountain's side, and taking hold of the forest, seem to 
unite the stormy cloud above to the quiet earth beneath. 
In like manner, how beautifully does the covenant of re- 
demption link, by a golden chain, heaven to earth, and 
earth to heaven. The cloud of Divine Justice still hangs 
above our heads, and the lightning is sometimes seen 
playing upon its i'ace. But the bow of mercy smiles up- 
on the darki knd security to the 
humble believer. With argument irresistible, and confi- 
dence unshaken, he exclaims, J/r that spared not his own 
<.<, but delivered him up for us all, lour shall he n>>t with 



OF REDEMPTION. 63 

him also, freely give us all things ? Who shall lay any 
thing to the charge of GooVs elect? It is God that jnsti- 
feth : who is he that condemneth ? 

In the third place, the rainbow is an apt emblem of 
union and harmony in the midst of diversity. 

The beam of light that comes to us from the sun, is 
homogeneous and apparently simple. But let it pass 
through the prism, or the drop of rain, and it developes 
the colors that form the rainbow. Apply the thermome- 
ter, and you will find also in that beam, invisible rays, 
producing the phenomena of heat. Subject the photo- 
graphic plate to the same beam, and you will find other 
invisible rays, that shall realize the ancient fancy of the 
painter, who dipped his pencil in the sun. Now all these 
rays, so diverse in color and effect, are harmoniously 
blended in the rainbow. And who fancies any want 
of congruity and harmony ? Take away any one of 
them indeed, and you despoil the bow of its perfection. 
A single color painted upon the clouds, would excite 
comparatively little interest. But when the seven are 
blended in the magnificent arch, you feel how won- 
derful is the power of nature to unite and harmonize 
things so diverse ; and in the midst often thousand differ- 
ences, to exhibit perfect union and proportion. 

The beam of truth that comes to us, either through the 
volume of nature or revelation, is homogeneous and pure. 
But passing through the various separating media of dif- 



64 UNITY CONSISTENT 

ferent intellects, of education, of prejudice, and various 
systems of philosophy, it is divided into rays of many col- 
ors. And usually men do not recognize their common 
origin, nor imagine that they can be made to harmonize. 
Some of these rays are, indeed, lost, and most of them 
are obscured, by the perverting influence of the medium 
through which they pass. But whenever the different 
denominations of Christendom unite upon any great ob- 
ject of benevolence, they show that the light which they 
emit, had a divine original ; and though of different 
shades, it may all be blended into an arch of light, that 
shall spread glory over the darkness of this world, and 
become an omen of hope for the future. They learn, 
that so long as they see evidence that the light which is 
thrown out from any denomination had a divine origin, 
they need not fear that it will blast, but they may hope 
it will bless, the nations ; although diverse in appearance 
from their own ; and that in fact, the different colored 
rays may blend in harmony. They will find too, that 
there are invisible rays, — calorific rays, unequally diffu- 
!, perhaps, as in the spectrum, among the different col- 
orific rays : yet spreading a genial warmth through the 
whole. And they will find other invisible rays, whose 
magic power shall paint Christianity, as thus exhibited, 
in :i juster and fairer light before the world, than she has 
•\ er yel assumed. 

LUtiful, however as ilic natural rainbow is, i( lacks 



WITH DIVERSITY. 65 

one thing essential to the perfection of its beauty. As 
seen in the heavens, by an eye on earth, it can never 
form but a portion of a circle. Yet when you stand up- 
on the brink of the cataract of Niagara, in favorable cir- 
cumstances, you may see that circle completed upon the 
6pray. And then will you feel, what probably you nev- 
er thought of before, how much more glorious the bow 
upon the clouds would be, could it be presented as an un- 
ending curve. 

Jn like manner, the union of different denominations of 
Christians, so fitly represented by the colors of the rain- 
bow, never yet has been, and I fear never will be, — per- 
haps I might say, never can be, on earth, anything but a 
broken circle. But when from every nation, every de- 
nomination, and every communion, they shall be assem- 
bled around the throne of their common Lord on Mount 
Zion above, the circle shall be completed, and the full glo- 
ries of Christian love, marred and obscured on earth, shall 
shine forth in all their brightness, and excite the admira- 
tion of all heaven, and become the Redeemer's diadem. 

In the fourth place, the rainbow aptly represents man^s 
present state of probation and discipline* 

When we see the tempest rising and hear the winds 
whistling; and see the billowy clouds wheeling and mix- 
ing in wild commotion, while ever and anon from their 
dark folds, flashes out the lightning, and the startling 
thunder comes pealing after, while the riven tree or the 



GO MAN'S TROBATION. 

blazing habitation, attests the power of the electric dis- 
charges, — such a scene may and must interest us by its 
sublimity. But it wears too much the aspect of terror to 
make its long continuance desired. Yet when the fury 
of the storm is past, and the wild wind is lulled, and the 
forked lightning plays only at a distance, and the sun be- 
gins to look out again from behind the retiring cloud, we 
view the scene, with lively emotions of pleasure ; and 
when at length the rainbow is seen spanning the storm, 
and nature smiles in morning freshness, we rejoice in the 
contrast, and do not regret the violence of the tempest, 
nor its dangers, if such a scene of loveliness is permitted 
to follow. 

No less in contrast are the scenes which man's proba- 
tionary state in this world presents. It is, indeed, full of 
enigmas, too deep for human philosophy to solve. The 
author of the book of Ecclesiastes has left us the result of 
his observations and reflections upon the checkered state 
of tilings, which society exhibits. / returned, says he, 
and saw under /he sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor 
the battle to the strong; neither yet bread to the wise, nor 
yet rit -lies to men of understanding, nor yet favor to nan of 
skill : but time and chance happeneth to them all. This is 
blank atheism. Bui others among the ancients, as they 
observed the condition of the world, saw in it such 
mixture of retributive justice and benevo- 
lence, as i" regard il as a state of rewards and punish- 



THE DARK SIDE. 67 

merits. This was the view entertained by Job's comfort- 
ers, who argued against him on such a basis ; and the 
view was not uncommon among the heathen. Even in 
modern times, this checkered aspect of human society and 
individual experience, has perplexed and confounded 
many, who have not drank deeply into the spirit of reve- 
lation. Aside from that fountain of truth, it is not, indeed, 
strange, that men should be confounded by what they 
witness. When they see whole cities and districts sud- 
denly overturned by the earthquake or the volcano, or 
deluged by water ; when the tornado spreads desolation 
over fertile regions ; when the pestilence moves in terror 
over the land ; when famine and war convert regions, 
populous and fertile, into uninhabited deserts ; and when 
in individual experience the best laid plans prove abor- 
tive, and misfortune and sickness paralyze the most vigor- 
ous frame, it does seem as if the arm of God's punitive 
justice were laid bare, and as if he were giving painful 
exhibitions of his hatred of sin. The world, indeed, seems 
covered with the cloud of Divine vengeance, and we 
see the lightnings flashing from it, and the winds and the 
floods rushing with fury from its caverns. And yet the 
destruction falls on the just as well as the unjust, the in- 
nocent as well as the guilty, and we wonder why Infinite 
Wisdom and Justice do not make a distinction. 

On the other hand, when none of these terriffic mes- 
sengers of wrath are abroad, and we go forth to survey 



6$ THE BRIGIIT SIDE. 

the world, we find a thousand tokens of benevolence 
smiling upon us on the face of society. Over vast re- 
gions waves the olive of peace, and happy millions sit un- 
der their own vines and fig trees, with none to molest or 
make them afraid. The gory battle-field waves with 
golden grain ; new cities and towns are springing up on 
the ruins of those buried by the earthquake, the volca- 
no, or the flood, — science and art unite to multiply the 
comforts and elegancies of life, — multitudes are rising 
from the degradation of ignorance and superstition ; the 
chains of the oppressor are snapping asunder, and we 
hear the shout of freedom from disenthralled millions. 
And when we descend to the examination of individuals, 
we find peace and prosperity, health and happiness, to be 
the law, and suffering, poverty, sickness, and misery, to 
be the exception. If the former view brought before us 
the cloud of Divine Justice with its lightning and thun- 
der, the latter spreads over it a bow of hope and prom- 
ise. It is the voice of nature, telling us in language not 
to be mistaken , that if the world does exhibit, here and 
there, evidences of God's displeasure against sin, — if we 
do see marks of a fallen condition of the human family, 
still it is not a condition without hope. Bright rays of 
mercy are smiling upon its darkness, speaking in gentle 
tones of Divine forgiveness to the penitent. Nature, in- 
deed, with a thousand tongues, tells us that it is a world 
of probation and discipline ; a mere preparatory state for 



HUMAN HOPES. 69 

a final and far more exalted condition. And this voice 
solves satisfactorily the enigma of this world, and justi 
fies the ways of God to man, and brings back peace and 
hope into the bosom of dejection, doubt and despair. 

In the fifth place, the rainbow is a striking emblem of 
human hopes. 

Although the laws by which the rainbow is produced 
are everywhere the same, yet it presents itself to our view 
in two quite different circumstances. In the one case it 
precedes, and in the other it follows, the storm. When 
it appears at the rising of the sun, it is painted upon the 
approaching storm, and when at the setting sun, upon the 
retiring storm. Hence the morning bow presages the 
storm, and the evening bow gives promise of a subse- 
quent day with a clear sky and an invigorating atmos- 
phere : or as the homely proverb has it, 

" A bow in the morning : — 
Let sailor's take warning : 

A rainbow at night, 

Is the sailor's delight." 

Now the morning bow aptly represents those human 
hopes that are destined to end in disappointment and de- 
feat. And these hopes are for the most part such as are 
inspired in the morning of life. At that period, when 
the sun of life is first above the horizon, the clouds of care 
and suffering have not yet cast a shadow over its bright- 

7 



70 HUMAN HOPES 

ness, and its rays throw a deceitful splendor over the fu- 
ture. Then too, the bow of promise smiles so sweetly, 
as to lure on the inexperienced youth, and inspire hopes 
that can never be realized. He has not yet learnt that 
this bow of promise, like the rainbow, is painted upon a 
rising storm, and owes its brilliancy to the storm. He is 
amazed, therefore, and disheartened, when he sees the 
clouds begin to rise, and the sun passes behind them, and 
the bow fades away, and the storms of misfortune com- 
mence. It is well in such circumstances if he does not ut- 
terly despair, and give over his efforts after future good. 
Some do thus yield to the power of adversity. But oth- 
ers nobly breast the storm, and trust that when its fury is 
spent, the sun will reappear, and new and better hopes 
shall not only spring up, but be realized ; if not in this 
world, yet in another, far brighter and nobler. And to 
produce such a state of feeling and action, is precisely the 
object God lias in view in thus blasting earthly hopes. 

The morning bow, however, does aptly symbolize some 
human hopes that extend into eternity. If not built 
upon the right foundation, those hopes, however 
confident, will never be fulfilled. Ray, worse than 
this : they will end in a storm that will know no 
mitigation and no end. Every hope will thus termi- 
nate that is not founded on Jesus Christ and him 
crucified; every hope thai does not begin with tJ<c wash- 
and the renewing of the Holy Ghost: 



SYMBOLIZED. 71 

every hope that rests on external rites in religion, 
or on mere worldly morality, or on fitful frames instead of 
a deep seated abiding principle of piety ; — love to God 
and love to man„ Oh, how painful to think how many 
hopes are indulged among nominal Christians, that will 
prove like the spider's web, or like the giving up of the 
ghost ! With comparative composure can we see earth- 
ly hopes crushed, and those who entertained them stand- 
ing desolate and disconsolate : for that very desolation 
may lead them to secure hopes that shall prove an anchor 
to the soul both sure and stedfast, in the final conflict of 
nature. But how overwhelming the thought, that when 
a man stands on the brink of life, and a hope of heaven 
is the only support which can buoy him up amid the angry 
waters, Oh, to find that this is a delusion, and like a mill 
stone will drag him to the bottom, who, who, can contem- 
plate without anguish his condition ! And yet you and I, 
my Christian brother, may find that condition to be our 
own. 

Contemplate now the rainbow of the evening, or rather 
of the setting sun, and you have a beautiful emblem of 
hopes, temporal and eternal, that are true and will become 
reality. And a striking difference between these hopes 
and such as will perish, lies in the fact, that they follow, 
instead of preceding, the storms of life. After the clouds 
and the darkness, and it may be the tempests of affliction, 
and disappointment have passed by, God impresses upon 



72 REGENERATION 

those who have endured them the tokens of his approba- 
tion and favor, and gives them a bright earnest of happier 
days ; it may be on earth, but assuredly in heaven. 
Bravely and patiently have they stood at the post of 
duty, when the winds and the storm beat upon them, 
resolving to trust in Jehovah, though he slew them ; and 
now they have their reward. Thus did light and peace 
break in upon Job after his fiery trials ; and thus have 
ten thousand others found that their afflictions were only 
necessary precursors of days of rest and happiness. And 
as to heavenly hopes, they are almost as necessarily 
preceded by storms and tempests in the moral world, 
as the rainbow of evening is by those in the natural 
world. Says Paul, we glory in tribulation ; knowing that 
tribulation ivorlceih patience, and patience experience, and 
experience hope : and hope mdketh not ashamed. Our 
light affliction, which is but for a moment, ivorketh for us 
a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory* 

Christian brother, I know that your thoughts will re- 
cur in this connection to the time when your soul was 
brought out of the darkness of nature into the mar- 
vellous light of the Gospel. A sense of unpardoned sin 
had brought a frightful cloud over your prospects for 

rnity ; and ever and anon you saw the lightning of 

Sinai leaping forth, from its bosom, threatening you with 

the instant destruction which you felt that you deserved. 

I cry for help was answered only by the heavy 



SYMBOLIZED. 73 

thunder of the Divine Law ; and you sought in vain for 
any refuge from the pelting storm. Hope died in your 
bosom, and despair was settling down upon your pros- 
pects, when suddenly, and as if almost by miracle, the 
tempest lulled, the blue sky reappeared, your eye caught 
the bow of the everlasting covenant, the Sun of Right- 
eousness looked through the clouds with noonday bright- 
ness, your soul was filled with light, and love, and exulting 
joy, and heaven and earth with the glory of God. Oh, 
can you look upon the natural rainbow, and not be re- 
minded of that amazing and triumphant hour, when you 
exclaimed, 

" This relief, 
K This change, — whence are they | .'almost it might seem 
t: I never liv'd till now, — all else had been a dream." 

But the closing scene of the truer Christian's life, as 
well as its commencement, is most impressively symbol- 
ized by the rainbow of evening ; not* to speak of that 
beautiful silver bow which the rays of ithe moon unfre- 
quently exhibit upon the evening clouds, -and which is 
called the Lunar Iris : a phenomenon which a man may 
think himself fortunate to have seen once iir the course of 
an ordinary life ; and which, moreover, does finely repre- 
sent the condition of some shrinking yet amiable Chris- 
tians as death approaches. But I speak now of that rich 



74 A RAINBOW 

scene, which we sometimes witness at the hour of sunset, 
when the tempests have subsided, and the day closes with 
a splendor which none can appreciate but those who have 
seen it. Let me refer to an example, which has not yet 
escaped from any of our memories. * 

The sultry and almost suffocating condition of the 
atmosphere in the forenoon, foreboded a thunder tem- 
pest in the afternoon. Accordingly the brazen thun- 
der heads began to shoot up magnificently along the west- 
ern horizon, reposing upon dense darkness beneath. 
Higher and higher they mounted upwards as the sun de- 
clined, and at length he disappeared behind them, and the 
distant thunder began to mutter. Louder and louder did 
it roll along, causing the solid mountains to rock and 
tremble. The sharp and angry lightning too, darted 
from cloud to cloud, and sometimes to the earth, and na- 
ture seemed waiting in stillness for the full force of the 
onset. At length we heard the roar of the wind and the 
rain, and in a few moments, torrents of water were swept 
through the air, the trees reeled and bowed beneath the 
impulse, flash after flash of lightning in quick succession 
illuminated the darkened air, and an almost continued 



• Exhibited June 23d, 1848, at Amherst : also in equaj splendor, 
on the loth of July, 1849 : ami is feebly represented upon the ac- 
companying sketch: 1 Bay feebly, for the original (which led to the 
preparation of this discourse,) was Lfi cent a scene as 1 ever 

witnessed in nature. 



DESCRIBED. 75 

roar of thunder, reminded the observer of his impotence 
when God unchains the elements. But ere long the fury 
of the tempest passed by, and we looked with relieved 
feelings upon the retiring cloud. Soon the blue sky ap- 
peared along the western horizon, — the furious winds 
were hushed, the rain ceased, and the sun looked forth 
with a brighter and more joyous face, and spread a glory 
over the landscape unknown before. Then too, the dark 
retiring cloud was lighted up by the magnificent rainbow, 
whose double and concentric arches arrested every eye 
and interested every heart, not dead to nature's charms, 
nor insensible to the assurance thence derived, that 
though for a time the elements may be lashed into fury, 
the omnipotent God, who sits behind the elements, holds 
them in his fist, and will say to them, thus far shall ye go 
but no farther. Magnificent, indeed, was the scene that 
now spread itself before us. Along the eastern and south- 
ern horizon, the black cloud was still extended, and over 
its face we still saw the flickering lightning play, and we 
heard the thunder dying away in the distance. The pu- 
rified atmosphere gave a free passage to the horizontal 
rays of the sun, so that the whole landscape presented an 
unwonted distinctness of outline and richness of coloring ; 
and it seemed as if we could almost touch the distant 
mountain tops. On the south, (for I will describe the 
phenomena as they fell under my own eye- on the 23d of 
June,) the right hand extremity of the rainbow's arch re- 



'b THE CHRISTIAN 

posed against the side of Mount Norwottuck, and its left 
hand extremity, against Mount Lincoln, while its centre 
was occupied by the College Edifices, which never seem- 
ed so much honored as when surmounted by this coronal 
arch, placed over them by God's own hand. And then 
what a sunset followed ! As the rainbow brightened and 
rose higher and higher with the sinking sun, all the space 
within its arch assumed the aspect of embossed gold, in 
fine contrast with the darker shades without the circle. 
And yet the clouds on every side changed their form and 
coloring continually ; and the whole scene deepened in in- 
terest till the sun sunk behind the hills ; nor could the 
man of genuine taste turn away from the fascinating 
scene, till the darkness hid it from his view. And even 
then, he knew that such a sunset, although a dark night 
might follow, is a sure harbinger of a glorious morning on 
the subsequent day : agreeably to the beautiful lines of 
Dr. Watts, upon the setting sun. 

" And now the fair traveler's come to the west; 
His rays arc all gold, and his beauties are best ; 
He paints the sky gay as lie sinks to his rest, 
And forctcls a bright rising again." 

Analogous to this, I may truly say, has been the clos- 
ing scene of many an eminent and devoted Christian. 
J lis life may have been tilled with trials and conflicts, 






at life's close, 77 

and often may his earthly hopes have been blasted. In- 
deed, such discipline seems almost essential to a full pre- 
paration for a triumphant departure to a brighter world. 
But when the storms of life swept over him, and dark- 
ness enshrouded him, faith still kept her firm hold of the 
Divine Promise, and felt confident that the tempest and 
the darkness would at length give place to the Sun of 
Righteousness with healing in his wings. And now that 
blessed time has arrived. The bow of Christian hope 
spans the receding darkness, and the sweet light of eter- 
nal glory comes in through the gloom of the grave. The 
tempests of human passion are hushed, and no wave ruf- 
fles the ocean of eternity, whose quiet surface invites the 
soul to launch forth. As the Christian looks backward, 
the bow of the everlasting covenant between God and his 
soul, shuts out from his view his past sins and sorrows, 
and he feels sure they can follow him no farther. And as 
he looks forward, so bright is the light of eternal glory, 
that shoots down the dark valley and shadow of death, 
that it lights up all the scene with unearthly splendor. 
True, that dark valley is before him, and he must now 
pass through it. But the night will be short, and he 
knows that when the morning comes, it will usher in a 
day of indescribable and unending glory. He will not 
find there, indeed, the sun or the moon : for the glory of 
God enlightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof ; and 
there shall he no night there* Nay, so strong is faith now, 



7S A GLIMPSE 

and so wide the vista which she opens into the unseen 
world, that death is robbed of his terrors and the grave of 
its gloom. You see indeed the earthly house of his tab- 
ernacle crumbling down ; but not till the building of 
God, the house not made with hands, eternal in the heav- 
ens, is all ready and waiting to receive him. Friends 
stand around to mourn his dissolution : but they will see 
only a triumph and a coronation. So much of the light 
and the spirit of heaven have come down to him, that the 
last enemy lays aside his useless dart, and comes only as 
a welcome messenger, to cut the last tie that binds him to 
earth, and strip off the vestments of the mortal, that the 
robe of the immortal may be put on. Oh, thou depart- 
ing spirit, shall we call this death ? I know that thou 
wilt answer, Death is swalloived up in victory ! 

Finally, the rainbow affords 2is a glimpse of the mag- 
nificence of the heavenly world, and the glory of God, 

In the book of Revelations John says : After this I 
holed and beheld a door was opened in heaven: and the 
first voice which I heard ivas as it were of a trumpet tally 
ing with me, which said, come up hither and, 1 will show 

> things which must be hereafter. And immediately I 

Was in llic Sji'iil ; and behold if thrOTlt WOS set in neuron 

(i, ni one sat on flic throne* And he tin,, sat was te> look 
upon like a jasper and a sardine stone : and there was a 

rainbow round <ih<>nt the throne, in sight like unto an emer- 
ald* 1 cannot fall in with the current opinion among 



OP THE HEAVENLY WORLD. 79 

Christian writer?, that the various objects here enumera- 
ted, — the throne, the jasper, the sardine stone, and the 
rainbow, are intended to represent some moral quality or 
transaction : that the rainbow, for instance, means the 
covenant of God with his people. I regard the descrip- 
tion rather as an attempt to give us some idea, by appeals 
to sensible representations, of the magnificence of the 
heavenly world. And I am the more persuaded of the 
correctness of this view by a similar representation in 
the book of Ezekiel, in which it is said, As the appear- 
ance of the bow that is in the child in the day of rain, so 
was the appearance of the brightness round about. This 
was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. 
Heaven cannot, indeed, as we learn from Paul's beatific 
vision, be described in human language. But by bring- 
ing before the imagination the most brilliant objects of 
the natural world, we get some faint conception of its 
magnificence ; or rather, we learn that the most splendid 
scenes of earth are only faint emblems of the New Jeru- 
salem and the Glory of God which forms its light. John 
seems not content with the ordinary rainbow as an em- 
blem of the glory that is about the throne of God. He 
heightens the effect by making the whole bow of an em- 
erald hue ; a color unsurpassed among the choicest gems 
of nature. He seems disposed to tax imagination to the 
utmost in its conceptions of material beauty, that it may 
rise to higher conceptions of uncreated and heavenly 



80 THE THRONE OF GOD. 

splendor. He thus teaches us that we need not fear 
forming too vivid conceptions of those glories that will 
burst upon the vision of the righteous when they tread the 
new earth, and the canopy of the new heavens is arched 
over them. As we look then upon the literal rainbow 
and admire its beauties, let us apply to it the conception 
of the seer of Patmos, and change it into an emerald arch 
in the heavens. Then let imagination, with that rainbow 
in her hand, mount up to the New Jerusalem, and with it 
encircle the throne of God ; and then remember that even 
this splendid image is only a faint shadow of the glory 
that will meet the disembodied spirit as it enters the cel- 
estial city, and that higher and higher glories shall open 
upon the soul as it rises in capacity and bliss, through 
everlasting ages. Oh, what preparation, — Oh, what pu- 
rity does such a world demand ! 






THE EUTHANASIA OF AUTUMN. 



THE EUTHANASIA OF AUTUMN- 



We all do fade as a leaf. — Isaiah 64 : 6. 

He who studies the anatomy and physiology of ani- 
mals and plants, will be struck, with the many analogies 
of structure and function between them. In both he will 
find a vital principle, whose presence is essential to 
every function, and whose absence is death. Both also 
are sustained by food received from without. Hence, or- 
gans are needed and provided for preserving and intro- 
ducing this food into the system. Is it digested by ani- 
mals ? So it is by plants. Have animals organs for re- 
ceiving and decomposing the atmosphere ? So have 
plants : and in both cases is the oxygen essential to life 
and health. If there be a beautiful chemistry at work 
to transform the gross materials of food into the proxi-^ 
mate principles of animals, so it is in plants. If the for- 
mer have organs for separating and throwing off the pois* 



84 



ANALOGIES 



onous and redundant matter, that finds its way into the 
system, so have the other. As there is in animals a sys- 
tem for the circulation of the blood, whereby it is first 
brought in contact with the air, and then propelled by 
the heart into every part of the frame, that every organ 
may be supplied with nourishment, so, by a force equally 
effectual, called, enclosmosis and exosmosis, and by ves- 
sels equally well adapted to the purpose, is the sap of 
vegetables made to go its round, and supply every part 
with the materials for growth, and the elimination of the 
various peculiar principles found in plants. Plants too, 
like aninmls, are liable to disease, and from the same 
causes : causes which sometimes can, and sometimes can- 
not, be avoided : causes sometimes obvious and striking, 

and at other times too recondite to be understood, or even 
discovered. The result, however, is the same in all or- 
ganic nature, viz., decay and death. Nay, if there be no 
actual disease, decay gradually comes on, and the vital 
functions drag heavily along, till at length life departs, 
and leaves the animal or the vegetable to the disorgani- 
zing agencies of chemistry, to revert to its original ele- 
ments. 

The incipient stages of this decay and dissolution are 
alluded to in the text, We all do fade as a leaf. As the 
leaf changes its summer greenness for the brown of au- 
tumn, and at length falls, and is driven by the winds 
along the surface, and is finally decomposed, so the beau- 



BETWEEN ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 85 

ty, strength, and glory of man, as the autumn of life 
comes on, lose their brightness, and sink ere long into the 
darkness and dishonor of the grave. At a season of the 
year then, when the vegetable world is undergoing this 
transformation, it is wise to learn the lessons taught us by 
the fading leaf. For it is the intention of God that 
every natural as well as providential event should be 
turned by us into moral instruction. 

The first moral lesson taught us by the fading leaf, is 
the certainty of the decay and dissolution of our bodily 
powers. 

The analogy of the seasons to human life, has long- 
since been sung by the poet : 

" Behold, fond man. 
See here thy pictured life : pass some few years 
Thy flowering spring ; thy summer's ardent strength; 
Thy soher autumn, ripening into age ; 
And pale concluding winter comes at last, 
And shuts the scene." 

The contrast is indeed striking, between the rich green- 
ness and expanding vigor of the summer, and the shrivel- 
led and decaying aspect of autumn. Nor do we see any rea- 
son for such a change in the physiology of vegetable life, 
except in a change of temperature. We cannot see why 
all the functions of animal or vegetable life might not be 
performed indefinitely, under the same circumstances.. 

8* 



86 DECAY 

But experience teaches us, that after a certain time, they 
will cease their operation, even though no blighting influ- 
ence come over them. This is old age, in the vegetable 
as well as the animal. And it is a law of nature, whose 
operation no care or prudence can arrest. We may con- 
tend with it for a time, and sometimes the vital principle 
will struggle long before, it yields ; and now and then, 
generation after generation see some vegetable or animal 
Nestor outliving them all, and bidding fair to triumph 
over the last enemy. But in that war, it is found at last, 
there is no discharge, and only one conqueror. 

There exists, however, among men a most powerful 
tendency to forget this great law of decay and mortality, 
and to put far off the evil day. In respect to our worldly 
affairs, indeed, this tendency seems most wisely adapted 
to promote them. For there are those, who tl trough fear 
of death are all their life time subject to bondage; and 
they accomplish but little for the world. NevertheL 
this disposition to overlook this inevitable tendency of 
our physical system, exerts a most disastrous influence 
upon our higher interests ; because we are led by it to 
put ('(l';i preparation for our departure out of the world 
till the summons comes, and then the -tern and unpitying 

will not wait lor us. Therefore it is, thai 

Pn has placed all along our path, mementos of 

approaching decay and dissolution. AW 4 see our 

. nay, our dearest friends, dropping all around 



OF OUR rOWERS. 87 

us, and their glory departing. In the occasional feeble- 
ness and pain that assail the strongest, and are the con- 
stant companions of multitudes, we have internal testi- 
mony of our own, to our approaching dissolution. And 
as if all this were not enough, we read the same lesson 
in all nature around us. Amid all the glories that meet 
us throughout creation , there is a strange mixture of de- 
cay and decomposition. Even the most solid materials 
of our globe, the adamantine rocks and the everlasting 
hills, are crumbling down, and spreading apparent ruin 
over the surface. And the proudest human monuments, — 
man's Babel towers and brazen walks, need only the 
ruthless tooth of time to grind them to dust. But it is at 
the season of the fading leaf, that nature utters her loud- 
est warning ; and this was the lesson intended by the text 
to be most deeply impressed upon us as we look over the 
changing landscape. 

A second lesson, which we should learn from the fading 
leaf is the brevity of human beauty and glory. 

It seems but a clay since we first saw the vegetable 
world coming forth from its wintry grave ; and casting 
aside its fleecy winding sheet, clothe itself with a mantle 
of green, and cover its head with a flowery wreath. Our 
hearts beat quick, responsive to the strong pulse of na- 
ture, propelling the vivifying and beautifying fluids 
through every part of her system. We gazed with de- 
light and poetic rapture upon the beauties of spring, and 



88 BREVITY 

soon saw them swelling and developing into the full glories 
of summer. Hill and dale, woodland and open field, 
feasted the eye with their mellow tints, their deep green 
waving foliage, and intermingled flowers. We did not 
see why we might not for years be regaled by the zeph- 
yrs that came to our senses, loaded with health and fra- 
grance and delicious song. But a few short days and 
nights only had passed, when, at the slight touch of frost, 
the delicate currents were chilled, and soon the changing 
and fading and falling leaf told us that summer had been 
driven from her throne, and her glories were trodden in 
the dust. 

And now the leaf 
Incessant rustles from the mournful grove : 
Oft startling such as studious walk below. 
And slowly circles through the waving air. 
Fled is the blasted verdure of the fields, 
And shrunk into their buds, the flowery race 
Their sunny robes resign. 

In like manner, in the spring of life, we look with de- 
light upon the germinating and expanding beauties and 
charms of man. With quick clastic step, he bounds be- 
fore us. The sparkling eve (ells us of the strong emo- 
tions ofthe soul within. The rose flourishes on his cheek, 
and the full and strong muscle, with an excess of animal 
spirits, gives fair proportion to his form, and agility and 



of man's glory. 89 

power to his movements. The heart beats so full and 
strong, and life glows so vividly in his whole frame, that 
we look upon him as almost invulnerable to the assaults 
of disease and decay ; and fancy that he will long resist 
the universal law. He too, exhilirated by the full tide 
of health that courses through his veins, thinks not of 
sickness and death, except as possibilities, which he may 
mock at many a long year, and he looks with a mixture 
of pity and contempt upon the lank and sallow invalid. 
You lose sight of him for a brief period : and when you 
meet him again, you are amazed at the change. The 
sunk and languid eye, the pale and hollow cheek, the 
emaciated and ungainly form, the curved spine, the slow 
and trembling gait, the hollow voice, the feeble diges- 
tion, the tardy pulse, the failing muscle, the irritable 
nerve, the mental torpor and dejection ; all, all, make 
you feel that the beauty and glory have departed from 
him : and you see too how the world, casting one look of 
pity, perhaps, upon what was once their admiration and 
their idol, turn away from him with a sigh, as the wreck 
of former greatness, and seek some other object, in the 
bloom and vigor of life, on which to fasten their regards. 
Oh, how great and melancholy the transformation ? And 
how soon too has it been effected ! You were not ready 
for it ; and it makes you sad. For this individual was 
perhaps elevated to a lofty seat, and wielded mighty influ- 
ences, and stood forth as an illustrious example of hu- 



90 "WE DO FADE 

man glory and excellency. Yet he could neither con- 
quer nor resist the universal law, that tramples in the 
dust all human beauty and human glory. 

And well would it be, when we witness such monu- 
ments of the brevity of man's most splendid characteris- 
tics, if we could make the lesson personal. But though 
we can see that others are losing their charms, and their 
vigor, and mourn over it, how amazed often are we, 
when an intimation is made to us, that others witness the 
same symptoms of decay in our ourselves. Grey hairs 
are here and there upon him, says the prophet, yet he 
hnoweth it not. He is amazed that any should think him 
old, or failing in his physical or intellectual powers. He 
resists as long as possible the opticians aid to his flattened 
eye-ball, and tries to convince himself that he has still the 
elastic vigor of muscle, and mental energy of youth. But 
alas, we all do fade as the leaf; and to close our eyes 
against the evidences of the fact, is only to treasure up 
bitter disappointment for the hour when the visor shall 
be torn from our eyes, by time's ruthless hand. Better 
is it to listen to the lesson which decaying nature reads to 
us so impressively at this season of the year, and not 
make ourselves the ridicule of the world, by striving to 
hide the marks of decaying energies, which their keen 
v. ill be sure to discover, long before we see them 
ourselves. 

h J doubt not is the most important instruction 



AS THE LEAF. 91 

which is taught us in the text. And this may be learnt 
from the changes in nature in all parts of the world, save 
tropical regions, where perpetual summer reigns, and the 
fading leaf drops almost unobserved. In such climates 
this text could have little force : and so its impressiveness 
would vary as we pass from the equator through differ- 
ent isothermal zones. But in this country, the phenom- 
ena of the fading leaf, exhibit peculiarities found I believe 
no where else : and if I mistake not, we may learn from 
these peculiarities some moral lessons, not taught by the 
mere fact that in autumn vegetation decays and passes in- 
to its wintry grave. 

With us, then, the fading leaf is not a mere example of 
decay, producing sadness, if not melancholy, in other 
lands. When autumn approaches, some slight frosts 
chill the vegetable fluids and weaken the power of their 
delicate organs to produce the various proximate princi- 
ples in proper proportions. In other words, a diseased 
action supervenes in the vessels, and the result is, an ex- 
cess of acid or alkali. These substances, it is well known, 
produce most striking effects upon vegetable colors ; 
changing sometimes those that are dull into a brilliancy 
often gaudy, and sometimes oppressive. Ere long the ef- 
fects of these chemical changes become manifest upon the 
foliage of our forests, as the autumn advances ; and then 
follow weeks, in which the eye is met by prospects the 
most brilliant and imposing that can be conceived of, 



92 AUTUMNAL SCENERY. 

whose description the inhabitants of other lands regard as 
caricature. The richest and most diverse hues that na- 
ture can produce by the separation and blending of all the 
prismatic colors, meet us in every grove, and hill side, 
and mountain. Red of every shade, from crimson to 
cherry, — yellow, from bright sulphur to orange, — brown, 
from clove brown to liver brown, — and green, from grass 
green to oil green, stand forth in distinct spots, yet all 
mingled in fantastic proportions, and clothing the land- 
scape with an almost dazzling brilliancy; especially when 
lighted up by the mellow rays of an October sun. Said 
once a distinguished foreigner from continental Europe, 
when shown a sketch of our autumnal scenery, before he 
had seen it in nature, " this is caricature ;" but when he 
had witnessed it, " the drawing," said he, " does not come 
up to nature." " What a strange country must America 
be," said once the simple minded Nestorians of Persia, 
when looking at the same drawing, " what a strange coun- 
try must America be, where the people live in wooden 
houses, and the trees are painted. " 

What now are the peculiar moral lessons which we 
may learn from these splendid exhibitions of autumnal 
metamorphoses in the forests of our country? The text 
does not indeed teach them directly : Yet since the phe- 
nomena of the fading leaf vary so much in differential] 
we may regard this pa is indirectly teaching us 

whatcv 3 natural religion may derive from these 

peculiariti 



MELANCHOLY FEELINGS. 93 

I say then , in the first place, that our autumnal scenery 
testifies to the benevolence of God. 

The laws of vegetable nature might have been so con- 
stituted, that at the close of the summer months, a sudden 
change might have come over the foliage, and from a 
pleasant green, it might, by a single step, have reverted 
to a shriveled, blackened and unsightly mass ; as if scath- 
ed by fire. That would, indeed, have given us a striking 
emblem of the suddenness of death, as it sometimes falls 
upon the unsuspecting : but it would have produced only 
melancholy emotions, as we looked out upon the seared 
landscape. And, indeed, such seems to be the most 
striking impression produced by the autumnal scenery of 
other lands. And hence the poet of the seasons, in de- 
scribing that part of the year, says, 

" He comes ! he comes ! in every breeze, the Power 

Of Philosophic Melancholy comes ! 

His near approach the sudden starting tear, 

The glowing cheek, the mild dejected air, 

The softened feature, and the beating heart 

Pierced deep with many a virtuous pang, declare.' , 

But though, when we contemplate the fading leaf of 
our climate, as an emblem of decay, some degree of sad- 
ness cannot but be excited, yet other and more cheerful 
emotions are also awakened, which soften the melancholy 

9 



94 DIVINE 

into a pleasing experience, as one of our own poets has 
sung : 

" What is there saddening in the Autumn leaves ? 
Have they that " green and yejlow Melancholy" 
That the sweet poet spake of ? Had he seen 
Our variegated woods, when first the frost 
Turns into beauty all October's charms ; 
When the dread fever quits us, — when the storms 
Of the wild Equinox, with all its wet, 
Have left the land as the first deluge left it, 
With a bright bow of many colors hung 
Upon the forest tops, — he had not sigh'd." 

No : lie would have sung of the Divine Benevolence, 
that has thus spread rich beauty over the face of unwel- 
come decay, and made nature's party-colored winding 
sheet so attractive, that we smile with her as she puts it 
on. It is a beautiful example of that Infinite Benevo- 
lence, which, though it could not but make nature every- 
where remind us that we live in a fallen world, has yet 
so mingled mercy in the cup, thai we drink it almost with- 
out pain, and arc softened by the kindness that yearns 
over US in our misery, and throws many how of prom- 
ise over the dark clouds thai spread over the heavens. 
This mingling of goodness and severity, shows us the 
exuberance of the benevolence, which seems loth to in- 
flict merited punishment, and thus inspires us with the 



BENEVOLENCE. 95 

hope that we may be delivered from the ruins of the 
apostacy, and again enjoy the unclouded favor of God. 
It was not necessary that incipient decay should be made 
even attractive, in order to accomplish all that justice de- 
manded. But God delights to influence men by the pow- 
er of goodness. In the great plans which he has devised 
for the rescue of our race from the consequences of the 
fall, He has lavished the riches of that goodness : and it is 
pleasant to see the same kindness manifested in all the 
arrangements and operations of nature. 

In the second place, our autumnal scenery affords a 
striking analogy to the changes through which man ptasses 
from time into eternity. 

The difference is, indeed, great, between the rich green- 
ness and waving foliage of August with the rustling and 
sighing zephyr, and the barren trees of November, with 
the northern blasts whistling through the branches ; and 
greater still the difference, when the last vestige of life 
seems to have departed, and the vegetable world is wrap- 
ped in its winding sheet of ice and snow. But has life 
really all gone ? No : it has only withdrawn to the 
citadel, and there concentrated its powers to resist the as- 
saults of frost, and prepare for new developments , when 
the sun shall return from southern skies, and a more ge* 
nial temperature shall revisit these northern climes* It 
is only a change of state, and not the extinction of life* 
The trees have merely put off their summer robes, be* 



96 MAN DIES 

cause inappropriate for the sterner climate of winter. Life 
does, indeed, seem to have departed. But we know that 
its germ is yet unextinct ; and that there shall come, — 
and that ere long, — a resurrection day. The icy grasp 
of winter shall be relaxed ; and then shall the mysteri- 
ous principle of life again develope its marvelous pow- 
ers, in weaving a new and lovelier robe to grace the fair 
form of spring. 

See now in these changes a striking analogy to those 
through which man passes on his w r ay to immortality. 
As disease fastens upon him, or old age creeps on, his 
beauty and glory are, indeed, made to consume away 
like the moth. The rose flies from his cheek, — his senses 
become dull, — his brain torpid, — and all the wheels of 
life move slow, because the vital energies are failing. 
And even the mind seems to partake of the general de- 
cay. However tenacious of their hold, the powers of life 
may be, we know that ere long they must yield, and 
man's glorious beauty become as a flower. The work 
goes on, till vitality resigns its charge of the human 
frame so curiously and wonderfully made, and it quickly 
becomes the prey of disorganizing agencies, reverting to 
its original elements ; which, scattered by the winds and 
dissolved by the wafer.-, enter into new combinations, and 
assume new forms of loveliness and life. In short, the 
triumph of death seems to be complete. The man has 



BUT STILL LIVES. 97 

disappeared, and survivors feel and weep as though he 
had disappeared forever. 

But after all, how deceptive are these appearances, 
and how contrary to the reality. We know, because both 
reason and scripture teach us, that he whom death has 
thus stricken down, has not become extinct. A germ, a 
precious, priceless germ, — the man himself, indeed, — 
still survives. There is a deathless principle within, 
which smiles over the wreck of the body. Whether it 
has gone forth a disembodied, immaterial principle : or 
whether it be still attached to some attenuated, undecay- 
ing. material tenement, we know not : But it exists : 
nay, having broken loose from its prison-house of flesh 
and sense, it has risen to a higher existence, and enter- 
ed upon a brighter sphere of action. The body, indeed, 
like the barren tree, must for a while lie dormant in the 
grave. But that too shall at length emerge in renovated 
glory. 

" See truth love and mercy in triumph descending, 
And nature all glowing in Eden's first bloom ; 
On the cold cheek of death smiles and roses are blending, 
And beauty immortal awakes from the tomb." 

Li the third place, our autumnal scenery forcibly repre- 
sents to us, emblematically, what ought to be the effect of ad- 
versity upon us in the development of our piety, 

9* 



98 ADVERSITY 

It may have seemed inappropriate to my hearers, that 
I introduced in a sabbath day discourse, a scientific theo- 
ry to explain the manner in which the hues of autumn 
are produced in our forests. But my object will now be 
apparent. For if that theory be admitted, it illustrates 
the effect which adversity should have upon us. "We 
might expect, that when the plant is first smitten by frost, 
its functions would at once cease, its foliage droop, and 
wither, and fall, and decomposition ensue. But though 
the action of the delicate machinery is so disturbed that 
it cannot any more elaborate perfect vegetation, still the 
organs do what they can, and though they fail to preserve 
and continue the healthy greenness of summer, they de- 
velope hues still more brilliant, and make creation smile, 
though about to descend into her wintry grave. They 
clothe her with an appropriate dress for her coming trans- 
mutation, and lead observers to admire the wonderful 
chemistry within, that can thus make decay seem lovely 
and attractive. 

In like manner, do the frosts of adversity operate upon 
the true hearted Christian, hi other words, they devel- 
ops virtues in his character which would otherwise have 
never appeared. Where a true stamina of piety is not 
found, the man often sinks at once when smitten: his 
hopes die, and his affections are dried up : and he becomes 
the prey of despondency, if not of de-pair, the wreck of 
what he once was 3 — a withered monument of a broken 



DEVELOPES VIRTUES. 90 

heart. He resembles the tree blasted by the lightning, 
or scathed by lire. But he who views his chastisements 
as the necessary inflictions of his heavenly Father, and 
intended for his best good, desires and aims that they 
shall produce their appropriate effects. And they do de- 
velope in brighter colors, like the foliage of autumn, his 
Christian virtues, — his sweet submission, — his deep hu- 
mility, — his expanding charity, — his long forbearance, — 
his humble gratitude, — his unaffected kindness, — in short, 
his ardent love to God and man. Instead of being crush- 
ed by the load of sorrow, or frozen into a petrifaction, he 
bears up nobly under the load, and shoots forth many a 
new trait of character, that blossoms in beauty, and bears 
fruit in abundance- His virtues never would have shone 
so brightly, had not adversity touched his heart with her 
icy hand. Those virtues do, indeed, make us feel that 
the man is ripening too fast for heaven to continue long 
below ; just as the variegated splendors of an autumnal 
forest, tell us of approaching winter. But it is not the 
less interesting, because the Christian exhibits more and 
more of the spirit of heaven. He may die unto the world 
but he will live unto God. And this accords with an in- 
spired exhortation : reckon ye yourselves to be dead, in- 
deed, unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. 

Finally, our autumnal scenery is a significant emblem 



100 HOW THE CHRISTIAN 

of the manner in winch the Christian shoidd cjo down to 
the grave- 

The gay splendor of our forests, as autumn comes on, 
may seem to some inappropriate, when we consider that 
it is the precursor of decay and death. But when we re- 
member that the plant still lives, and after a season of in- 
action will awake to new and more vigorous life, and 
that the apparent decay is only laying aside a summer 
robe, because unfit for winter, is it not appropriate that na- 
ture should hang out signals of joy, rather than of sorrow ? 
"Why should she not descend exult ingly, and in her rich- 
est dress, into the grave, in hope of so early and so glori- 
ous a resurrection ? 

And what is the condition of the Christian, as he per- 
ceives himself approaching the tomb ? Long since has 
he fled from the curse of a broken law, to Him who bore 
it in his own body on the tree. And ever since that well 
remembered time, when the hope of sin forgiven and 
heaven secured, filled his soul with joy unspeakable and 
full of glory, has he felt that he was not his own, and that 
this world was not his home : that his best friends were 
on the other side of the dark valley ; and there his Sa- 
vior had prepared a mansion for him. Thither has 
'ion drawn his soul, and often, when opening 
the (Bye and the ear of faith; he Las contemplated Ins ever- 
lasting rest, has he felt a desire to depart and ho with 
\ii.l especially when sin within and without ha.s ^ 



SHOULD DIE. 101 

liarrassed and overcome him, has he sighed for the per- 
fect holiness of heaven. And now the progress of years, 
or the pains of disease, admonish him that the time of his 
release is approaching. Shall he then put on the weeds 
of mourning, and shrink back distressed, and cling to this 
world with a stronger grasp, although he has only to 
look up to see the arms of his blessed Savior opened, and 
departed Christian friends beckoning him to join them 
in their happy home on high ? What though he feels the 
earthly house of his tabernacle crumbling down : he has 
a house not made with hands, — a building of God, eter- 
nal in the heavens. What though he must bid adieu to 
beloved friends below ? He goes to join those no less be- 
loved on high ; and those now left behind will follow him 
soon. Does he tremble in dread of the parting struggle ? 
But how short, if endured ! and how often found to be a 
mere figment of imagination : 

" What though the sickle sometimes keen, 
Just scars us as we reap the golden grain ? 
More than thy balm, Gilead, heals the wound. 

What occasion, then, has the real Christian to welcome 
the harbinger of his translation from earth to heaven ? 
Let surviving friends, — as well they may, — mourn over 
his departure, and clothe themselves with the insignia of 
sorrow. But let his soul be clothed with the bright gar- 



102 DEATH 

merits of peace, and joy, and praise, as he comes nearer 
and nearer the hour of release. Thus will he imitate na- 
ture in her autumnal scenes. Thus will he do honor to 
the religion he professes ; to the faith by which his soul is 
anchored to the eternal throne ; to the Savior, by whom 
he has been rescued from sin and destruction ; and to the 
God whose Infinite grace has transformed him from a 
slave of sin and an heir of perdition, into a freeman of 
the Lord, and a king and a priest unto God. 

But in order that we may be able thus to look on decay 
and death as welcome messengers, and not as hated and ter- 
rific enemies, we must lead a life of humble and devoted 
piety. God must be glorified in our lives, or we cannot 
glorify Him when sinking into the grave. Daily must 
we come so near to eternity in our meditations, that its 
scenes are familiar, and we seem to be gazing upon 
them almost without an intervening veil. Daily, too, 
must we imbibe more and more of the spirit of heaven, 
and feel more and more how empty and vain this world is. 
In short, we must learn to pant after God and heaven as 
the hart panteth after the water bri oks } and feel our souls 
drawn upwards with overwhelming power, before we can 
our materia] framework is tailing into dust, and 
look upon our winding is our coronation robe, 

and upon the King of Terrors as the Prince of Peace. 

And shall such a Christian be overwhelmed with fear 
and sorrow, and put on the badges of mourning, when he 



WELCOMED. 103 

feels within him the premonitions of such a glorious trans- 
formation ? Rather let him who indulges no such hopes, 
put on sackcloth and ashes, and take as a fit emblem of 
his condition, the forest scathed and blackened by fire, 
and sit down in inconsolable sorrow, and begin the weep- 
ing and wailing of the lost, before he is forced into the pit. 
But should the Christian go down to the grave in sadness, 
when that is the end of his sorrow ? Shall he who has 
been sweating and suffering with slaves, and as a slave, 
under the world, that most ferocious of all taskmasters, 
shall he be disconsolate, because the Deliverer approaches, 
to knock off his fetters, and to make him a freeman for- 
ever? Shall he who has been struggling for years, as on 
a wide battle field, with principalities and powers, ivith 
the rulers of the darkness of this ivorld, and with spiritual 
wickedness in high places, and has often fainted in the con- 
test, shall he not rejoice when he hears the shout of vic- 
tory, and is summoned to receive the conqueror's crown, 
in the presence of the universe, and from the hands of 
the Captain of his salvation ? Shall he not say with 
Paul, lam now ready to be offered, and the time of my 
departure is at hand, I have fought a good fight, I have 
finished my course: I have kept the faith. Henceforth 
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness ivhich the 
Lord, the righteous Judge, shcdl give me at that day. 
Shall he who has long been buffeting the winds and the 
waves, and almost sinking, feel no joy when he approach- 



104 GOING HOME. 

es the peaceful haven, and the life boat is sent out to re- 
ceive him ? Shall he who has long dwelt on the out- 
skirts of creation, in a land of clouds and fogs, be sad be- 
cause the invitation has come to go to the cloudless cen- 
ter of the universe, where truth is written in sun beams 
over his head, and its transparent fountain gushes up be- 
neath his feet ? Does he sigh and weep, who has long 
been an exile and a prisoner in a distant and inhospita- 
ble land, when the vessel is spreading her canvass to 
carry him back to his father's house, and to the em- 
brace of beloved friends ? Yet how truly is the devo- 
ted Christian an exile in this world : how uncongenial a 
place for his new born soul : and what mighty attractions 
draw him towards his eternal home ! Is a robe of sad- 
ness appropriate for him who is invited to become a cit- 
izen of the New Jerusalem, and there to be anointed a 
king and a priest unto God, and to live in his smiles ? 
Oh no ! such were not the feelings of the hundred and 
forty and four thousand, who have been called to go up 
to Mount Zion. As a great cloud of witnesses they come 
around us to day, and point back to the time, when with 
joyful step, they went down to the brink of Jordan, and 
saw the waters divide fur their passage! Soon as the 
summons came, they threw aside the badges <>f sorrow and 
mourning, and put on the garments of salvation. As 
they drew nearer and nearer the heavenly world, its 
spirit and its joy were breathed more and more into their 



TO HEAVEN. 105 

souls, and its radiant glory beamed from their faces. 
And as they went forward the dark valley was all filled 
with light, and they knew not where earth ended, or 
where heaven begun ; for their hearts were full of hea- 
ven. Like them may we all live. Like them may we 
die, and with them be joined in glory everlasting ! 



10 



THE CORONATION OF WINTER. 



THE CORONATION OF WINTER. 



He casteth forth his ice like morsels. — Psalm 147 : 17. 

The eminent saints of ancient times were watchful ob- 
servers of the objects and operations of nature. In every 
event they saw the agency of God ; and therefore they 
took delight in its examination. For they could not but 
receive pleasure from witnessing the manifestations of 
His wisdom and beneficence, whom they adored and 
loved. They had not learnt, as we have in modern 
times, to interpose unbending laws between the Creator 
and his works, and then, by giving inherent power 
to these laws, virtually to remove God away from his 
creation, into an etherial extramundane sphere of re- 
pose and happiness. I do not say that this is the univer- 
sal feeling at the present clay. But it prevails extensive- 
ly in the church, and still more in the world. The ablest 
philosophers of modern times do, indeed, maintain, that a 
natural law is nothing more than the uniform mode in 

10* 



110 GOD EXCLUDED. 

which God acts ; and that nfter all, it is not the efficiency 
of the law, but God's own energy, that keeps all nature 
in motion : that he operates immediately and directly, not 
remotely and indirectly, in bringing about every event : 
and that every natural change is as really the work of 
God, as if the eye of sense could see his hand turning 
round the wheels of nature. But although the ablest 
philosophy of modern times has reached this conclusion, 
the great mass of the community, and even of Christians, 
are still groping in the darkness of that mechanical sys- 
tem, which ascribes the operations of the natural world 
to nature's laws, instead of nature's God. By a sort of 
figure, indeed, it is proper, as the advocates of this sys- 
tem maintain, to speak of God as the Author of natural 
events, because he originally ordained the laws of nature. 
But they have no idea that Pie exerts any direct and im- 
mediate agency in bringing them about ; and therefore, 
when they look upon these events, they feel no impres- 
sion of the presence and active agency of Jehovah. 

But how different, as already remarked, were the feel- 
ings of ancient saints. The psalmist could not look up 
to heaven without exclaiming, The hen cuts declctre the glo- 
ry of God, and the Jirm showeth his handy-work. 
Day unto day utteqeth speech, and night auto night show* 
ci h knowledge* There is no speech n<>r language wh 
their void is not heara* When he cast his eyes abroad 

on the earth, his full heart cried out, Lord. hot/- 



THE BIBLE VIEW. Ill 

manifold are thy ivories : in wisdom hast thow made them 
all: the earth is full of thy riches. In his eye, every 
thing was full of God. It was God who sent sjmngs in- 
to the valleys, which run among the hills. When the thun- 
der storm passed before him, it was God's voice in the hea- 
vens, and his lightnings that lighted the world. When he 
heard the bellowings and saw the smoke of the volcano, 
it was God who looketh on the earth and it tremhleth : he 
toucheth the hills and they smoke. 

In like manner did Job refer all natural operations to 
the immediate agency of God, and bid us draw from 
them lessons of wisdom. Ask now the beasts, says he, and 
they shall teach thee, and the fowls of the air, and they 
shall tell thee : Or speak to the earth and it shall teach 
thee ; and the fishes of the sea shall declare it unto thee* 
Who knoweth not, in all these, that the hand of the Lord 
hath wrought this ? 

The writers of the New Testament we find to be pene- 
trated with the same sentiments. Especially do we see 
a desire to learn a religious lesson from every event, 
manifested in the history of Jesus Christ. In giving in- 
struction to his disciples, he seized for illustration upon 
almost every occurrence in the natural, political, and so- 
cial world around him. When for instance he would 
teach his followers to rely on God's Providence, and not 
be unreasonably anxious for temporal good, he appealed 
to the animal and vegetable world ; Consider the ravens; 



112 Christ's method. 

for they neither sow nor reap : which have neither store 
house nor ham: and God feedeth them. How much more 
are ye better than the fotvls. — Consider the lilies, how they 
yrow ; they toil not, they spin not : and yet I say unto you 
that Solomon in all his glory ivas not arrayed like one of 
these. — If then God so clothe the grass, which is to-day in 
the field and to-morrow is cast into the oven, how much 
more will he clothe you, ye of little faith ? So at the 
well of Jacob in Samaria, bow beautifully did be dis- 
course to tbe woman of the living water, which be was 
able to give. — In short, as the Savior met tbe sowsr go- 
ing forth to sow ; or saw tbe corn growing up, or tbe 
trees putting on their foliage and flowers ; as he saw the 
vineyards dressed, the grass waving in tbe fields, the 
birds flying through the air, the chickens gather'ng under 
the wing of their mother, the burrows of the foxes, the 
plowmen holding the plow, the architect building bouses, 
the soldier going to war, or a band of thieves breaking 
into the house ; — all these events, and many others, were 
seized upon by him to illustrate great moral and religious 
truths. 

Now with such illustrious examples, is it not the part 
of wisdom to attempt to seize upon passing events in na- 
ture as well as in society, and make them subservient to 
moral instruction? 1 know, indeed, that in an age, too 
artificial already, and becomir daily more so, this is not 
fashionable; unless some ev it occurs in nature as strik- 



THE GLACIAL PHENOMENON. 113 

ing as a miracle. From time to time, however, nature 
puts on some new aspect, so striking and peculiar, as to 
elicit some regard from the most inatentive observer. 
And for the last ten days, we have been living in the 
midst of one of these peculiar manifestations, which must 
have interested every one, and may afford some valuable 
religious hints. God has cast fourth Ms ice like morsels ; 
and those morsels have clothed nature with a richer and 
more attractive robe, than we can hope to witness more 
than once in a life of three score years and ten. It should 
not pass without some notice. 

Allow me, then, in the first place, to give a brief des- 
cription of this phenonenon, as it met my own eye ; for 
froui what I can learn, I should not think it strange, if some 
of the most brilliant features of this exhibition were 
scarcely seen, even by some who lived in the midst of it. 

On Wednesday, the 17th of January, a moderate and 
very cold snow storm closed a little before mid-day, leav- 
ing the surface of the earth and of vegetables at so low a 
temperature, as to absorb heat rapidly from objects placed 
upon them. But during the following night, the themom- 
eter rose nearly to the freezing point, and a moderate- 
rain commenced, which continued about two days, almost 
without interruption. It was accompanied with but little 
wind, and the rain drops, most of the time, were almost as 
fine as mist ; so that the whole amount of rain scarcely 
exceeded an inch and a quarter in depth. The thermome- 



114 TJIE SEA OF GLASS. 

ter did not rise during the storm quite to the freezing 
point ; and towards the close, it sunk several degrees be- 
low it. The result was, that all the rain froze to the sur- 
face on which it fell, and formed a coat of pure transpa- 
rent ice, over the snow, and all other objects exposed to 
it, from a quarter of an inch to more than an inch in thick- 
ness. On the snow this crust was strong enough to sus- 
tain a man ; and almost as smooth as the frozen surface 
of a lake or pond ; — looking as if the billows of the ocean 
had been suddenly congealed before they could subside 
entirely. 

Still more striking, however, was the effect upon the 
vegetable world, now stripped of its foliage. The leaf- 
less branches and twigs of every tree, of every shrub, 
and even of every spire of grass, or other annual plant, 
that rose above the surface of the snow, were encased in 
this thick and beautiful hyaline coat, as transparent as 
the purest water. Along these branches, in many instan- 
ces, the ice swelled into tubercular masses, and almost 
uniformly terminated in a knob ; so as to resemble 
brings of gigantic glass beads. Now just imagine the ef- 
. from time to time on Saturday, broke 
through ill* 1 clouds upon these countless natural gems, 
prepared to refracl and reflect his light with more than 
his original brightness. I thought I had before seen 
spin. d'a! exhibitions of this ><>v\, in the glittering dev 
rad tii'' frost work of winter. But the 



THE DIAMOND PENDANTS. 115 

present scene surpassed all my former experience incom- 
parably ; and even the figments of my imagination. If 
the twigs of every tree and shrub and spire had been lit- 
erally covered with diamonds of the purest water and 
largest known size, say an inch in diameter, they w 7 ould 
not, I am sure, have poured upon the eye in the sun 
light a more dazzling splendor. But it may give those 
not familiar with the diamond, a better idea of the scene, 
to compare the icy pendants with those of cut glass, 
which are sometimes hung in great profusion around large 
chandeliers, in many of our churches and public halls. It 
is no exaggeration to say, that each tree, nay, each shrub, 
of moderate size, exhibited as numerous crystalline drops, 
and as brilliant an aspect, as I have ever seen around the 
largest chandelier. Think, then, how much superior 
must have been the aspect of a large tree, with a grace- 
ful shape and wide spreading branches. Nay, think of a 
whole forest with the rays of the sun darting through, and 
lighting up ten thousand radiant points of a diamond hue 
and intense brilliancy. These could be seen as many as 
forty or fifty rods, and beyond that distance, the forests, 
as far as the eye could reach, had the aspect and the rich- 
ness of embossed silver. 

When 1 perceived what a splendid robe nature had put 
on, I went forth to pay my homage in her magnificent 
temple. As I wandered over " the sea of glass," through 
fields, and forests, over hill and dale, new forms of beauty 



11G THE INTEREST INCREASES. 

met me at every step. Amazement was soon succeeded 
by admiration, and admiration gave place to intense de- 
light ; nor could I help repeating over the poet's enthu- 
siastic eulogy : 

" Oli Nature ! how in every charm supreme, 
Whose votaries feast on raptures ever new. 
Oh for the voice and fire of seraphim, 
To sing th} r glories with devotion due." 

I could not believe, that any more splendid develop- 
ments of this phenomenon awaited me. But on Satur- 
day night the thermometer sunk to zero, and on Sunday 
morning the sun arose in a cloudless sky, and the icy 
shoots and pendants, more thoroughly crystalized by the 
intense cold, formed ten thousand points of overwhelming 
brightness on every side. Nor were all the sparkling 
brilliants, as on the day before, of colorless light. But 
here and there, I began to notice the prismatic colors; 
now exhibiting a gem of most splendid sapphire blue ; 
next one of amethystine purple ; next one of intense to- 
paz yellow ; then a sea green beryl, changing by a slight 
of posture, into a rich emerald green: and then 
one of deep hyacinth red As the sun approached the 
meridian, the nnmber and splendor of these colored gems 

increased ; BO that on a single tree hundreds of them 

might l»e- seen, and sometimes bo large was their size and 



' 



THE FAIRY LAND. 117 

intense their color, that at the distance of fifty rods, they 
seemed equal to Sirius, nay, to the morning star ! and of 
hues the most delicate and rich that can be conceived of, 
exactly imitating, so far as I could judge, the natural 
gems ; and not partaking at all of those less delicate and 
gaudy tints, by which a practiced eye can distinguish gen- 
uine from supposititious precious stones. And by mov- 
ing the eye a few inches, we could see these different 
colors pass into one another, and thus witness the rich in- 
termediate shades. I have seen many splendid groups 
of precious stones, wrought and unwrought, in the large 
collections of our land ; and until I witnessed this scene, 
they seemed of great beauty. But it is now literally true, 
that they appear to me comparatively dull and insignfi- 
cant. In short, it seemed as if I was gazing upon a land- 
scape which had before existed only in a poet's imagina- 
tion. It is what he would call a fairy land : but a more 
Christian designation would be, a celestial land. 

On Monday it was cloudy, and the phenomena present- 
ed no new aspect. On Tuesday, there was a storm of fine 
rain and snow, and the beautiful transparency of the icy 
coat was changed into the aspect of ground glass. This 
gave to the trees a new and more delicate appearance. 
They resembled enchased work, formed of pure unbur- 
nished silver ; and had the sun shone upon them, they 
must have been intensely beautiful. I now supposed 
that the most brilliant part of this scene, — its golden pe- 
riod,-— had passed : and that the silver period of Tuesday, 

11 



118 THE SPLENDOR CONTINUES 

would soon be succeeded by the usual iron reign of win- 
ter ; especially as there fell several inches of snow, du- 
ring the night. But the cold restored the ice upon the 
trees to more than its original transparency, and the sun 
rose on Wednesday morning upon a cloudless sky ; and 
a wind scattered the snow from the branches, and all the 
phenomena opened upon us with more than their Sabbath 
day glories. 

" 'Tis winter's jubilee, — tins day 
His stores their countless treasures yield. 
See how the diamond glances play 
In ceaseless blaze from tree and field. 

A shower of gems is strewed around, 
The flowers of winter, rich and rare ; 
Rubies and sapphires deck the ground, 
The topaz, emerald, all arc there." 

As the sun approached the meridian, one had only to 
receive his rays at a certain angle, refracted through the 
crystal covering of a tree, in order to witness gems more 
splendid than art ever prepared. Four fifths of them 
were diamonds : but the sapphires were numerous ; the 
topaz and the beryl not unfrequent ; and occasionally the 
chrysolite and the hyacinth shone with intense brilliancy. 
There was wind also on that day ; and as the branches 
waved to and fro, these various gems appeared and van- 
ished and re-appeared in endless variety; chaining the 
eye to the spot, until the overpowered optic nerve shrunk 
from its office. But the rich vision did not cease through 



i 



BY DAY AND BY NIGHT. 119 

all that cloudless day. Nor did it terminate when the 
sun went down. For then the full orbed moon arose, and 
gave another most bewitching aspect to the scene. Du- 
ring the day the light had often been painfully intense. 
But the softness of moonlight permitted the eye to gaze 
and gaze untired, and yet the splendor seemed hardly 
less than during the day. Most of the bright points were 
of a mild topaz yellow, and when seen against the hea- 
vens, they could hardly be distinguished from the stars ; 
or when seen in the forest, especially as one passed rap- 
idly along, it seemed as if countless fire-flies were moving 
among the branches. Yet occasionally I saw other col- 
ors of the spectrum, especially the bluish green of the 
beryl. Through that live long night did these indescrib- 
able glories meet the eye of the observer. And on 
Thursday another cloudless morning and clear shining 
sun brought back the glories of Wednesday ; Nay, to my 
eye, this last day of the spectacle seemed the most splen- 
did of all ; and one could hardly realize that he was not 
translated to some celestial region. A second glorious 
evening set in. But ere morning the clouds overspread 
the sky, and the powerful rain of Friday and Friday 
night left the trees without a vestige of ice, and conse- 
quently ended the enchanting phenomenon, to be seen 
again we know not when. In some places trees have 
been injured by the weight of the ice ; and this feature is 
noticed and complained of by men. But taste and piety 



120 WHAT A WORLD THIS, 

might well be contented to see the vegetable world deci- 
mated, if necessary to so enchanting an exhibition, 

Exegetical writers upon the Bible, sometimes tell ns of 
what they call ana.% Aeycr/iera;— that is, words used only 
once in the whole Scriptures. In human life too, there 
are events, which we may call a 7ia% (pan >op £7 «,-— tliat is, ap- 
pearing only once during a generation. He who has 
seen one transit of a planet over the sun, or one Novem- 
ber shower of meteors, or one splendid comet, or one Lu- 
nar Iris, or one volcanic eruption, may be satisfied, and 
cannot hope for a second sight. — I reckon this glacial 
phenomenon among these unique revelations of nature, 
whose repetition may be reserved for £>osterity. To 
those who have not witnessed all the features of this ex- 
hibition which I have described, I may seem enthusiastic 
and extravagant in my estimates. But there are those 
present, I trust, who ran testify that they are not exag- 
geration ; and on whose memories they have made as in- 
delible an impression as a total eclipse of the sun, or a 
splendid comet, or the transit of Yenus, or Mercury ; and 
will be looked back upon as a pleasant oasis along the 
journey of life.* 

* Since the period of the glacial phenomenon described in the 
tcxt > I have seen only one analogous exhibition, and that partial, 
;ui(i far inferior to the first On .Mount Holy oke, however, there was 
a very splendid display of the gems ; bnl the ice was mostly confined 

<■ mountain. 
It may not be generally known, that there arc two circumstances of 
nent occurrence, in winch a person can sec a beautiful, though 



HAD NOT SIN MARRED IT. 121 

But let me hasten to consider some of the more stri- 
king religious applications of the phenomena under con- 
sideration. 

In the frst place, they lead us to infer what a splendid 
world this might have been, even with the present laws of 
nature, had sin never entered it. 

When God foresaw that man would sin, he decreed 
that death must follow in the train. Nor would it be con- 
sistent with infinite holiness to place a sinful mortal be- 
ing in a world as perfect and as full of splendid exhi- 
bitions of divine skill, as might exist in the residence of 
innocence and holiness. The laws and operations of na- 
ture, therefore, must be so cramped and adjusted, that 
while they would present many exquisite evidences of the 
wisdom and benevolence of the Deity, they should not 
bring out the most perfect and splendid exhibition. This 
world might easily have been so made, that its rocks 

inferior exhibition of gems by the refraction of the sun's rays. Ono 
such opportunity occurs in the morning, when the grass and the trees 
are covered with frost work : and another, when a heavy dew or a 
shower in the night has produced a multitude of drops of water. 
The most favorable position to see the gems, is to face the rising 
sun ; when the observer will perceive upon the grass before him, a 
parabolic curve, strung with all the colored and uncolored gems des- 
cribed in the text, though of smaller size. The same may be seen 
upon the shrubs and trees. And they might be observed in other 
directions, though more scattered. And one who will take the pains 
to look out for this phenomenon, will be quite often gratified by wit- 
lies i.ig a rich variety of diamonds, sapphires, beryls, topazes, &c, giv- 
ing him a faint idea of the splendid example described in this volume. 

11* 



122 THE AGENCIES OF NATURE, 

should have been composed wholly of the most beautiful 
gems, and every landscape have shone with the glory of 
Eden. And it does seem as if God had so balanced and 
adjusted the agencies of nature, that once or twice in a 
generation 'he allows some splendid development of un- 
earthly beauty to teach us what might perhaps have been 
a settled order of things, had not sin impressed her harpy 
fingers upon the face of nature. While, therefore, we are 
grateful for what is left us, — so much superior to what we 
deserve, — let us be reminded, when we witness such exhi- 
bitions as the one under consideration, how much more 
glorious might have been our lot, had not sin brought in 
death, and made the whole creation groan and travail togeth- 
er in pain until now. Let us loathe the hateful tyrant, 
who has thus degraded us- — Let us break asunder his 
chains, and wait in humble hope for the manifestation of 
the sons of God, — and for the glories of the new heavens 
and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

In the second place, with what exquisite skill must the 
agencies of nature be balanced, in order to bring about 
bition as we have witnesse 

It was found in ce#ary to allow the agents of atmos- 
pheric changes borne latitude, or oscillation, in their opera- 
tion: and this is what giveS such an appearance of con- 
fusion and irregularity to meteorological phenomena: 

; this also rendered it more difficult so to balance these 

acies, thai they should 1»» nit a certain result 

with infallible certainty ; in a case too, where a great 



HOW well balanced! 123 

many of them are concerned. Had any of these varied 
in their intensity, by an infinitesimal quantity, it would 
have been fatal in the present instance, to such results 
as we have witnessed. Plad the temperature varied du- 
ring forty-eight hours, from what it was, a single degree 
higher or lower, — had it been higher at all, either at the 
beginning or end of the storm, — had the descent of the 
rain been more rapid or in greater quantity, or in larger 
drops, — had the wind, as is common in storms, been high- 
er ; or had the more recondite agencies that produce and 
regulate storms, such as electricity, been in a slightly dif- 
ferent state, some of the exquisite features of the phe- 
nomena must have been marred, and the whole have re- 
sulted in an ordinary case of rain, hail or snow. Job 
speaks of the balancings of the clouds, as among the mys- 
teries of ancient philosophy. But how much nicer the 
balancing and counterbalancing of the complicated agen- 
cies of the atmosphere, in order to bring out this glacial 
miracle in full perfection ! — What wisdom and power 
short of infinite, could have brought it about ! And when 
we may ask, shall it be witnessed again ! As easily 
might we answer the question of one gazing on a splen- 
did figure in the Kaleidoscope, when that precise exhibi- 
tion will reappear in the course of its revolutions. It is 
possible that the next turn of the instrument may pre- 
sent it ; but almost certain that a whole life of labor, in 
turning it round, would not bring it again. Nor can we 
hardly dare hope again, during our short lives, to see the 



124 HUMAN LIFE 

time when all the requisite contingencies shall conspire 
to bring this identical phenomenon before us, that we may 
feast our eyes with its beauties. Let us be thankful that 
we have seen it once ; and for so many days, and under 
so many phases ; and let us not fail to learn from it a new 
and impressive lesson of the infinite skill and benevolence 
of the Author of Nature. 

In the third place, how strikingly emblematical has this 
scene been, of human life I 

As we set forward in the morning of our days, how 
brilliant and enticing is the prospect before us ! The sun 
of hope throws its full radiance over the landscape, and 
the rays come reflected to us in rainbow colors ; and with 
buoyant spirits and elastic step, we bound forward in pur- 
suit of the splendid gems that glitter in our horizon. 
Many a golden path opens before us, to fortune, to fame, 
or to pleasure ; and though we hear behind us the warn- 
ing voice of experience, bidding us moderate our expecta- 
tions, and not centre all our hopes upon what may disap- 
point and deceive us, we are too sure that the visions be- 
fore us are realities, and can be obtained, to be willing to 
faUer in our course. Life seems to us as full of splendor 
as the scenes of the last week ; and its honors and pie 
urea as inviting as thr gdms that hung temptingly from 
the trees. And, indeed the hopors, emoluments and en- 
joyments which arc the objects of pursuit, are as much re- 
alities as were tl sms of nature. And in 1m th cae 

they might be grasp* d. — But when we took the icy mor- 



SYMBOLIZED. 125 

sel into our hands, which at a distance had dazzled us 
with its splendor, how soon did its colors vanish, and it- 
self melt away into a drop of water. So when we have 
obtained the honors, reputation, and pleasures, after 
which we aspire, how soon does their glory depart, and 
the harpy fingers of envy and detraction, endeavor to 
filch them from us ; and the cup of nectar which we have 
seized, becomes changed into wormwood and gall ; and 
we find that we have been raised to distinction, only to 
become a fairer mark for the poisoned arrows of the world 
to reach ; and we learn that instead of a crown of glory > 
we have put on a crown of thorns. 

Suppose that during the past week any of us had been 
so fascinated by the fairy scene before us, that our su- 
preme affections had become fastened upon it. What a 
sense of desolation would have come over us, as we awoke 
yesterday morning, and found not a single vestige remain- 
ing of the objects to which we had given our hearts. So 
if in this life, we place our supreme desires or confidence 
upon any worldly good, a single storm of adversity may 
sweep away all our prospects and possessions, and leave 
us utterly heart-stricken and overwhelmed. And sooner 
or later such a storm will overtake every one and sink 
him in utter desolation, who has not laid up treasures in 
heaven, beyond the reach of all worldly changes. Does 
my voice to-day fall upon any heart that has nothing to 
trust in beyond this world ! Alas, how painful and peril- 
ous its condition ! 



126 man's displays 

In the fourth place, we are taught by the phenomena un- 
der consideration^ how meagre and insignificant, when 
compared with nature, are the proudest human efforts at 
ornament or display. 

The love of display is one of the strongest passions of 
the human heart ; as the history of every age testifies. 
In the rudest conditions of society, it exhibits itself in 
painting the body and the dress with gaudy colors, and 
on public occasions especially, in exhibiting a profusion 
of ornaments, derived from the skins of quadrupeds, the 
feathers of birds, and the shells of molluscs ; and with 
trinkets of glass, or tin, or brass. The more civilized 
man smiles at such coarse and gaudy displays ; and yet 
he shows a passion equally strong for brilliant exhibi- 
tions of ornamental objects, more costly and in better taste. 
Strip off the waving plume of the warrior, and his golden 
epaulette from his shoulder, and the glittering star from 
his breast, and his gold and diamond-hilted sword from his 
side ; strip off the trappings of his steed, and send him forth 
to the campaign with only coarse garments and naked steel, 
and you have robbed his work of half its attractions. De- 
prive him of the hope of witnessing the splendid gala day 
on his return from war, of riding in full military costume 
in the elegant barouche, beneath the triumphal arch, or 
amid huzzaing crowds, and 1 i'« ar thai much which goes 
by the name of patriotism would be found to be only a 

love of disl taction* 



COMPARED WITH NATURE^. 127 

But it is not the warrior alone who exhibits the 
strength of this passion. Through all the grades of soci- 
ety a constant strife is going on for the palm in external 
show. Each man endeavors to excel his peers and to ape 
his superiors, in dress, in equipage, and in entertaiments. 
The more wealth the greater the means of display; but 
the passion seems almost equally strong in the peasant as 
the prince. When men are divided into parties, each side 
strives to excel its rival in the parade and decorations of 
its public occasions ; and in religion, it is well known how 
widely and fatally meretricious forms of worship have 
smothered its vitality, and left for Jehovah only the gild- 
ed but defunct carcase of devotion. In this land of repub- 
lican simplicity, we see, indeed, only comparatively fee- 
ble manifestations of this passion. But where arbitrary 
governments exist, and wealth and titles are hereditary, 
and where church and state are linked together, not for 
the purpose of supporting religion, but of supporting each 
other, costly displays of dress and equipage, stars and rib- 
bons, crowns and coronets, and other paraphernalia of 
royalty, form most essential means of feeding national 
pride, and making the poor forget their degradation: al- 
though the expenditures requisite are so enormous, that 
if applied in charity, they would send food and raiment, 
education and happiness, into all the hovels of poverty. 

Would now that the costliest decorations that ever 
pride has put on, and the most splendid pageants which 
the world has ever seen, could have been gathered to- 



128 PRIDE AND FASHION 

gether upon New England soil during the last week, and 
been brought into comparison with the simple exhibition 
of nature which has passed before us* I would that all 
the crown jewels and other decorations of all the mon- 
archs of Europe and Asia had been here, — as well as 
their possessors ; nay, that all the splendors of their coro- 
nation could have been exhibited. I would have had 
brought hither the decorations of the most splendid pala- 
ces and castles, — and the gold and silver, and precious 
stones of all the famous processions and gala days, mili- 
tary, political, and religious, of the old and the new 
world ; and I would that individuals, who delight in dis- 
play, had brought forward their proudest ornaments. 
All these I would have placed by the side of one of our 
forests, and there, under the full beams of the meridian 
sun, or the full moon, I would have bid the world look on, 
and see how comparatively meagre and insignificant was 
the collected artificial splendor of earth, in comparison 
with the glories of that single forest, decked in one day 
by the magic hand of nature. And I would have bid 
them remember, that a thousand forests of New Eng- 
land were at the same moment emitting splendors equally 
•niiicent. Could the monarchs of the old world, 
could any who have devoted their time and property to 
the pageantry of office, or party, or sect, or to gratify 
personal ambition, — could they ever have forgotten, how 

nature, on these bleak shores, mid in the midst of barren 

winter, infinitely outshone them all? Oh it would have 



THROWN INTO THE SHADE 129 

been one of the best schools that pride ever entered ; and 
as the assembled multitudes went back to their various 
spheres of fashion and folly, even though they might 
have resumed the contest for the superiority over one 
another, in dress, equipage, entertainments, and dwel- 
lings, they would never henceforth have hoped to equal 
the glories of a New England winter. 
Would too that she, whom Cowper calls 

Imperial mistress of the fur clad Russ, 

who constructed a palace of ice, had witnessed this scene. 
The project was indeed a magnificent one ; and it is well 
described by the poet: — 

" No forest fell 
When thou woulclst build : no quarry sent its stores 
T' enrich thy walls : but thou didst hew the floods 
And make thy marble of the glassy wave. 
In such a palace poetry might place 
The armory of winter ; where his troops 
The gloomy clouds, find weapons, arrowy sleet, 
Skin-piercing volley, blossom-bruising hail. 
And snow that often blinds the traveler's course, 
And wraps him in an unexpected grave. 
Silently as a dream the fabric rose ; 
No sound of hammer or of saw was there ; 
Ice upon ice, the well adjusted parts 
Were soon conjoined, nor other cement asked 
Than water interposed, to make them one. 

12 



130 THE ICE PALACE. 

So stood the brittle prodigy ; though smooth 
And slippery the materials, yet frost bound 

Firm as a rock ; a scene 

Of evanescent glory once a stream, 
As soon to slide into a stream again." 

But had the imperial Catharine been permitted to en- 
ter such a temple as Nature has built of the same materi- 
al, among the hills of New England, how would she and 
her architects have shrunk from the enterprise, with such 
a model before them. 

" Thus nature works as if defying art ; 
And in defiance of her rival powers, 
By these fortuitous and random strokes, 
Performing such inimitable feats, 
As she with all her rules can never reach." 

Vain, however, is the wish to bring hither the princes, 
the nobility, or the fashionables, of other lands, or even of 
our own, to teach them a lesson of humility. Few of 
them will ever hear of the magnificent scene so lately 
around us, But let not us, who have feasted upon it so 
many days, suffer it to pass without instruction. We 
have the same unholy desire, as they, to outstrip others 
in the unhallowed chase after fashionable show and ex- 
ternal decorations : and we owe it to circumstances and 
Divine restraints, if we have not gone to the same excess 
of vanity. "When tempted again to chase the phantoms, 
let us turn to the realities of nature and be satisfied. 



IMPARTIAL BENEVOLENCE. 131 

Tliis leads me to remark, in the fifth 'place, that the scene 
under consideration furnishes a striking example of that 
impartial benevolence of the Deity, which has so widely 
diffused the richest gifts of nature, that they cannot he 
monopolized, hut are the common property of the whole hu- 
man family. 

Men endeavor to monopolize whatever they can, to 
themselves, or families, or party, or sect. As soon as the 
wealthy and the fashionable find that the community gen- 
erally are able to obtain an article of dress, or ornament, 
or luxury, which they supposed was exclusively theirs, 
they cease to desire it, and go in pursuit of something 
new. But mark haw different is the impartial benevo- 
lence of God ; and how it rebukes this contemptible 
spirit of self-aggrandizement and self-appropriation. The 
most valuable of nature's bounties are the common prop- 
erty of all. The air, the water, the beauties of the sea- 
sons, the glories of morn, noon, and evening, — the delight- 
ful prospects above, around, and beneath, can never be 
monopolized. Men may map off the earth's surface : they 
may surround this portion and that, with moats and walls, 
and call it their own ; and there they may erect stately 
mansions, and add to the natural scenery, all the charms 
of art. But they cannot shut up the lungs of the hum- 
blest individual who is a freeman, so that he shall not in- 
hale the pure atmosphere : nor close his eyes to the beau- 
ties of heaven and earth ; nor his ears against the sweet 



132 NO MONOPOLY 

symphonies of nature. Nay, if that poor man's heart 
has been warmed by the love of nature and of nature's 
God, he has a more real and substantial property in the 
fields and habitations around him, than the nominal pos- 
sessor, with all his legal titles. 

" His are the mountains, and the valiics his ; 
And the resplendant rivers. His to enjoy, 
With a propriety that none can feel, 
But who, with filial confidence inspired, 
Can lift to heaven an unpresumptuous eye, 
And smiling say, lt my Father made them all." 
Are they not his by a peculiar right, 
And by an emphasis of interest his, 
Whose eye they fill with tears of holy joy, 
Whose heart with praise s and. whose exalted mind 
With worthy thoughts of that unwearied love, 
That plann'd and built and still upholds, a world 
So cloth'd with beauty for rebellious man." 

One of the objects which the wealthy and the titled 
have hitherto succeeded most effectually in monopolizing, 
is the most splendid of the gems dug out of the earth ; 
leaving only the smaller specimens, or imitations in glass, 
for the community at large And because these larger 
specimens are very few, and therefore have assumed an 
enormous factitious value, princes and others of great 
wealth, have suoceded in keeping (hem in their hands: 
and by bringing them out only on great occasions, they 



IN NATURE. 138 

have been able to attract the attention and excite the ad- 
miration of the multitude. But the inhabitants of New- 
England at least, have now, for many days, had placed 
before them, an exhibition of nature's gems, which casts 
into the shade all the crown jewels of Europe and Asia. 
Had they all been suspended upon a single tree in our 
forests, they would scarcely have been noticed amid the 
profusion of glories poured forth by richer gems around 
them. Henceforth should any of us have an opportunity 
to witness a coronation, or triumphal procession, or carni- 
val feast, in Europe, or any of the public pageants in our 
own land, which are yearly becoming more imposing, and 
ape regal splendor more and more, we must feel how 
wretched an imitation they all are, of that splendid coro- 
nation season, when God's own hand placed the crown, 
which his infinite skill had constructed, upon the hoary 
brow of winter. Said a Roman emperor, near the close 
of life, " I have been all, and all is nothing :" so when any 
of us have seen the richest exhibitions of mere human 
skill which man can offer, we can say, " We have seen 
all and all is nothing, compared with that coronation sea- 
son of nature." 

In the sixth place, the subject teaches us how grateful we 
should be, for the rich and exhaustless source of happiness 
that is opened before us, in the study of the works of God. 

The phenomenon under consideration is one that lay 
open to the observation of all, though it required some 

12* 



134 THE STUDY OF NATURE 

careful examination to bring out all his glories ; and its 
novelty and brilliancy could not but excite general admi- 
ration. But really, this is only a sample of the novelties 
and beauties that are almost continually rewarding the 
researches of him, who devotes his time to the careful 
and minute study of the works of God, aided by the light 
of modern science. The casual and general observer 
soon ceases to be interested, because he looks only at the 
surface, and soon exhausts all the novelties. He merely 
stands on the outside of the temple of nature, and after 
gazing for a time at its noble proportions, and splendid 
columns, his interest subsides. But he who really studies 
the works of God, because he loves them, is admitted into 
the Penetralia ; and there ten thousand new objects re- 
ward his search : opening continually before him, until he 
reaches the very Holy of Holies, and becomes a conse- 
crated priest. He has acquired a relish for objects that 
always delight, but never satiate. Henceforth he possess- 
es a source of happiness of which the fluctuations of life 
cannot rob him. The world may frown upon him, and 
prove false ; and he may turn away with loathing from its 
vanities. But nature is ever the same : ami her sweet 
o always falls with soothing power upon the forlorn 
and disconsolate heart of her votaries; because it points 
them lo the Author of Nature ; and in the marvelous 
developments of hi- .-kill ami benevolence, which she un- 
jhows them how safely they may trust in Him, 



A RICH SOLACE. 135 

to carry tliem through their earthly pilgrimage ; and what 
new and higher developments they may hope for in another 
state, to give them nobler employment and more extatic 
enjoyment forever. Having thus cast themselves upon 
the bosom of nature and nature's God, it will be in vain 
that the storms of the world beat upon them, and the 
waves of affliction roll over them. Their anchor will not 
quit its hold till life does : and even amid the frosts of 
ages, like the volcano surrounded by polar snows, the 
flame of sanctified Christian love for nature, will throw a 
brighter radiance over the wastes of time. 

Can there be a doubt, now, but God intended that man 
should find in the study of his works, a rich and substan- 
tial source of happiness here, and a means of preparation 
for happiness hereafter. For not only has he laid open 
before all classes and conditions, a most inviting field, but 
he has implanted in the young heart susceptibilities al- 
ways awake to natural beauty: and the child always 
loves nature enthusiastically. But alas, in civilized soci- 
ety, how early are artificial objects crowded in between 
him and nature, until factitious wants and desires supplant 
those that are natural ; and he is put upon the hot race 
after the conventional distinctions of life. Even as early 
as his school boy days, certainly as early as the quadren- 
nial period of college, nature has been almost forgotten in 
his thoughts and affections ; and his desires have become 
concentrated upon elegance of personal appearance and 



136 THE NATURAL TASTE 

equipage, upon the acquisition of property, or civic hon- 
ors, or what is worse, upon sensual gratifications. Even 
the study of the works of God, as science developes 
them, so fascinating to the unsophisticated mind, has be- 
come to him an unpleasant task, to which he must be 
drummed up by rigid rules. He lives, indeed, in the 
midst of nature's magnificent museum ; but remains most 
profoundly ignorant of its contents : for his attention is 
devoted to the gewgaws and trinkets, the puppet shows 
and histrionic feats, which fashion, and ambition, and 
sensuality have surreptitiously introduced there. With 
these he becomes familiar ; and as a consequence, it may 
be, he attains that distinction in the fashionable or politi- 
cal world, which he seeks, and that amount of wealth 
which euables him to gratify his largest desires after show 
and equipage, and sensual indulgence. While the hey- 
day of life lasts, these objects are sufficient to satisfy him : 
but as its autumn advances, these artificial pleasures 
begin to pall upon the senses ; and becoming disgusted 
with fashionable and public life, he flees to retirement for 
relief. Alas, he has no relish for the only thing that can 
make retirement pleasant, viz: the study of nature: and 
it is now too late to acquire new affections. He must, 
therefore, try to quiet his restless spirit, as well as he 
can, with the same husks on which he has been i ceding. 
Political intrigues, and party politics and the rivalries 
and -hinders of social life, must still be his resource. 



PERVERTED. 137 

And if the possession of religion does not inspire him 
with hope beyond the grave, wretched indeed must be 
the remainder of his pilgrimage. But did he possess a 
love of nature, sanctified by a love of nature's God, — the 
God of redemption,— how sweetly might the evening of 
his days pass : and when his sun went down at last, how 
short would be the night, and how bright the morning 
that would follow ! 

Do I seem extravagant in representing the substitution 
of artificial for natural tastes and desires and pursuits in 
society, to be so general and so injurious ? But to refer 
to the case in hand : how many there are, who have not 
noticed the splendid phenomenon that has passed before 
us, as any thing worth remembering ! How many, who 
would take an hundred times more interest in the tinsel 
glitter of a public entertainment, or a ball-room, or a po-* 
litical procession, or a theatre, than in the splendors, 
which to an unperverted taste, have made all artificial 
displays tame and insignificant ! How many, who would 
cross the Atlantic to witness a coronation, or a military 
parade, but who have not felt interest enough in these far 
richer exhibitions, to go out of their dwellings \ How 
many, who, when standing upon the banks of Niagara, 
would see only a great mill dam : or who, when looking 
down into the deep and fiery crater of Kirauea, would 
think of nothing but a great forge : or whose most im- 
portant inquiry, when looking abroad from the highest 



138 THE SCRIPTURES 

mountain peak in North America, would be, what 
use could ever be made of so much wild land : or whose 
admiration, when first seeing the moons of Jupiter, or the 
ring of Saturn, or the lunar mountains, through a tele- 
scope, or a planet crossing the Sun's disc, or a total 
eclipse at noon day, whose admiration, I say> would rise 
no higher, than the utterance of some contemptible joke. 
Now when God has crowded the world in which we live 
with an endless profusion of the most attractive and 
astonishing wonders, for the very purpose of leading 113 
to study and admire them ; and when I know that that 
study would exert a most salutary influence upon the 
social, moral, and religious character of all classes and all 
ages ; how can I, without the deepest pain, P see so many of 
the community manifest an almost sottish indifference to 
all these wonders, and follow with infatuated eagerness 
after those artificial vanities, which are many of them 
most hurtful, and all of them as inferior to nature, as 
man is to the Deity ! 

In the seventh place, the phenomenon ice have been con- 
templatinq, affords us a more vivid conception of several 
objects of interest described in scripture, than ive could 
obtain in any other way* 

What christian has not meditated with deep interest, 
upon the bush which the patriarch saw in the desert of 
Sinai, burning with fire, yet unconsumed, from which 

ere came forth the voice of God, saying, put off thy 



ILLUSTRATED. 139 

shoes from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is 
holy ground. Yet during the last fortnight, we have 
had many vivid resemblances to that burning bush. At 
the rising and setting of the sun, whole forests seemed to 
be lighted up almost into a blaze. But to my own eye, 
a representation of this miracle, equally striking, was 
seen at the rising of the full moon, which threw a more 
golden splendor over the boughs of tree and shrub, than 
had been done by the sunlight, whose reflection had a 
more silvery aspect. And was there no divine voice 
issuing from the bush, thus lighted up by God's own 
hand ? The ear of sense could not hear any, as it did 
upon Sinai : but to the ear of faith it came in distinct 
accents, saying, put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the 
place whereon thou standest is holy ground. The whole 
scene, indeed has been full of God, and stupid must be 
that heart which did not realize his presence. 

In the next place, who could help noticing in this whole 
scene, a resemblance to the scriptural representation of 
the New Jerusalem. Her light, says John, was like unto 
a stone most precious ; even like a jasper stone, clear as 
crystal : And had a ivall great and high, and had twelve 
gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written 
thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the 
children of Israel : On the east, three gates : on the north, 
three gates : on the south, three gates : and on the west, 
three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve founda- 



140 the new Jerusalem: 

tions, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the 
Lamb. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper : 
and the city was of pure gold like unto clear glass. And 
the foundations of the ivall of the city were garnished with 
all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was 
jasper : the second, sapphire : the third, a chalcedony : the 
f our th^ an emerald: the fifth, a sardonyx: the sixth, sar- 
dins: the seventh, cry solite : the eighth, beryl: the ninth, a 
topaz : the tenth, a chrysoprasus : the eleventh, a jacinth : 
the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve 
pearls; every several gate was of one pearl ; and the 
street of the city ivas pure gold, as it were transparent 
glass. This description is not, indeed, to be understood 
literally. But what richer group of objects could be 
brought together, in order to give us some idea of the 
spiendor and glory of the future residence of the right- 
eous. Yet how imperfect an idea of that splendor, after 
all, do most men obtain from this description, because 
they have never seen the rich gems here put as repre- 
sentations of heavenly glory. And although I had often 
seen them, in the discharge of professional duties, yet I 
confess that my conceptions too, were faint and feeble 
compared to what they now are. We have had before 
us, from day to day, a far richer exhibition of these very 
gems, than all the lapidaries on earth can furnish, — 
although I fear that very few have Been the lull glory of 
this part of the exhibition: — But sure I am, that those 



SYMBOLIZED. 141 

who did see it, must have a far livelier apprehension of 
the purity and glory of Heaven than he had before. 
And if even in the present world of sense and sin, God 
permits nature occasionally to put on so splendid a dress, 
what overpowering magnificence may even the material uni- 
verse assume, in that world where she will be no more 
fettered and darkened, and where the human soul will 
need no organic sensorium ! Oh what Christian's heart 
does not reach forth after that nobler state of being, and 
pant for deliverance from that sin and imperfection, 
which can never dwell in so resplendent an abode ! 

John closes his description of the New Jerusalem, by 
saying, I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God 
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And so 
would I say in regard to the scene which has been de- 
scribed. For wherever one stood in looking upon it, 

" So like a temple did it seem, that there 

A pious heart's first impulse would be prayer." 

And so impressively present did God seem, that all na- 
ture was converted into a fane, and every object into an 
altar. 

Finally, this scene gives us an impressive idea of the 
value of that fear of the Lord which is wisdom, and of 
that departing from evil, which is understanding. 

Where, says Job, shall wisdom be found, and where is 
the place of understanding f Man knoweth not the price 

13 



142 WISDOM 

thereof. It cannot he gotten for gold, neither shall silver 
be weighed for the price thereof It cannot be valued with 
the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 
The gold and the crystal cannot equal it, and the exchange 
of it shall not be for jewels, or fine gold. No mention 
shall be made of coral, or of pearls : for the price of wis- 
dom is above rubies. Tlie topaz of Ethiopia shall not 
equal it, neither shall it be valued with 'pure gold. And 
to assure us what he meant by wisdom and understand- 
ing, Job adds, — the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and 
to depart from evil, that is understanding. 

Here too the sacred writer chose the most costly and 
splendid productions of nature, to show how worthless 
they all are when compared with true piety. Suppose 
now, that all the ice drops which have covered our for- 
ests, had been real gems, and might have been gathered 
like fruit, and converted into money. How poor, accord- 
ing to the Scriptures, would be the possessor of them all, 
if wanting in supreme love to God. 

" thou most bounteous giver of all gifts, 
Thou art Thyself of all thy gifts the crown. 
Without Thee we arc poor, give what thou wilt : 
And with Thee rich, take what thou wilt away." 

Are any of my hearers destitute of this boon, which 
all the treasures of earth cannot purchase! Lot them be 



SYMBOLIZED. 143 

assured that Jesus Christ offers it to them without money 
and without price ; having purchased it at an infinite 
sacrifice. Oh ! think of the final remorse and agony of 
that soul, which shall refuse the priceless gift, and be 
lost, — lost, — lost, — forever. 









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